The Black Prince of Remnant
by Bylackbre
Summary: In a world of bloody evolution, the Grimm should be the least of anyone's concerns when your world is also home to the Holy Britannian Empire. So how will a certain prince and Britannia's love of politics affect a particular school for training hunters and the different kingdoms?
1. Preview of Things to Come

**Hey guys I apologize to those who were enjoying my previous version of The Black Prince of Remnant before I decided to do another reboot of the story. I thought I could do better with it this time around compared to the previous two attempts. As a way of apologizing until I release the re-updated edition, here is a newly remastered version of the preview chapter I originally posted for the second version of the story but with slight changes and better writing. I decided to do this since today was the day the sponsors got to see what the first episode of RWBY Volume 3 was before the general public got the chance.**

 **I do not own RWBY or Code Geass or any other copyrighted characters that might appear in the story.**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

"Wait here while I check ahead," Ruby told the group of students behind her as she readied Crescent Rose and leaned around the corner. _A single squad is all that's standing in our way to the landing pad,_ Ruby thought as she reloaded her scythe with tranquilizer rounds and took aim at who she though was the squad leader.

Hearing the crack of Ruby's scythe firing, the Britannian squad split apart to pin Ruby down and attempt to flank her.

"This is Phalanx Two calling in back up. I repeat this is Phalanx Two requesting assistance, we are under attack by codename: Crimson Thorn," The second in command of the squad said over the radio with his message being received by both another squad and a Britannian VTOL.

Despite being under heavy assault rifle fire, Ruby kept firing until a bullet from the soldiers trying to flank her barely missed. Taking care not to accidently hit a hiding student, Ruby fired her scythe behind her and propelled herself in the direction of the flankers in a mixture of ballistics and her own semblance. Calming herself down so that she would have complete control over the scythe, Ruby carefully swung her weapon to either block or misdirect all the point blank shots taken at her and effortlessly knock out her attackers at the same time.

Realizing that he was the last standing soldier of his squad, Phalanx Two threw a chaos mine where Ruby was, hoping to at least slow the huntress down. Ruby noticed less than a second before the mine would explode but managed to intercept it with a single rifle round.

"Phalanx Two this is Harpy Three we have visual on the target and about to engage," The VTOL pilot stated as the gunner opened fire with the nose mounted machine gun on the lone huntress.

 _I need to find better cover and get these underclassmen out of here fast!_ Ruby thought to herself as she moved behind a stone pillar that was beginning to shatter under the heavy machine gun fire.

"The target is hiding behind those pillars," Phalanx Two shouted over the radio so that the newly arriving squad knew where Ruby was hiding. Seeing the reinforcements arrive and no way to take them out without exposing herself to the VTOL, Ruby mouthed to the students in hiding to get out there now. Unforntuately one of the more reckless and idiotic students misinterpreted her order at 'take out the helicopter.'

Unaware of the idiot's misunderstanding, Ruby waited until the VTOL stopped firing and moved out from around the pillar holding her scythe in such a way that she should be able to hit the cockpit with the tranquilizers. _I just hope I bought them enough time,_ Ruby thought to herself as her tranquilizers harmlessly bounce off the reinforced glass and the machine gun fire was about to hit her.

"I am not letting you beat Ruby so easily today," Ruby heard after she shut her eyes to face her inevitable death. Barely opening her eyes, Ruby saw Jaune using his shield to shield Ruby from all the bullets that would have depleted Ruby's and killed her.

 _How the hell is he lasting so long against the machine gun?_ Harpy Three thought to herself as a missile lock alarm went off. She only had moments to react before the idiotic underclassman fired a FIM-43 Redeye surface-to-air missile at the VTOL.

Watching in horror as his air support was knocked out of the sky by the missile hitting the tail of the aircraft as well as the arrival or more hunters, Phalanx Two fired his rifle at the center of the underclassman' chest and watching as the student fell over.

Filling with rage at the underclassman being attacked, Ruby launched herself at Phalanx Two with enough speed to send the unfortunate soldier flying away from the landing pad.

"Yeah no need to thank me, I just took who knows how many bullets for you." Jaune said as he leaned on his sword that was jabbed into the ground to support his tired body.

"Where have you been? I thought you would have been long gone by now?" Ruby asked the leader of team JNPR who only pointed in the direction of where the second Britannian squad was supposed to be attacking them only to have been swiftly defeated by Pyrrha.

"I couldn't just leave my team behind and fight while I ran away now can I?" Jaune said while Pyrrha walked over to life him and up and help regain his strength. Their rest was short lived however as one of the doors of the crashed VTOL flew open and a single figured jumped out and slowly started to walk towards the trio.

"Look out we have another incoming hostile," Pyrrha said as she and Ruby started to fire at the figure who effortlessly blocked each shot with his hidden sword. "I've got him," Jaune said as he charged towards their attacker. "What in the world?" Jaune asked as the swordsman sidestepped Jaune's swing and smashed his elbow into the younger boy's neck knocking him out of the fight.

"My name is Jeremiah Gottwald and in the name of the emperor I hearby order you to surrender," Jeremiah shouted as the two girls reloaded their guns.

"I will take your silence as a rejection," Jeremiah said as he charged towards Pyrrha. _She mostly uses her semblance to redirect attacks from weapons made of metal so if I don't take her out first then this could be a very one sided match,_ Jeremiah thought as he used his semblance canceler to even the field against the Spartan.

Realizing that she couldn't get a good shot thanks to his close proximity to Pyrrha, Ruby rushed to check on the injured student while Pyrrha took on the cyborg.

"I don't think I am going to make it, that bullet hit several organs and I am probably not going to make it out of the school," the boy moaned only to get a slap from his teammate. "Quit being so dramatic, that bullet only left a minor bruise and your aura kept you from getting into any more serious pain."

Seeing that the student was okay, Ruby quickly rushed back to where Pyrrha was being overpowered by the knight.

Being caught in a daze from being punched in the face, Pyrrha barely had time to redirect Jeremiah's blade from slicing her in half though it did cut her breastplate in such a way that her armor simply fell apart leaving her in only her clothes she wore under the armor.

"Watch out," being shouted by Ruby to warn Pyrrha was enough of a distraction for Jeremiah to grab Pyrrha's arm and twist in such a way to force Pyrrha to stumble in front of Jeremiah exposing her back which was quickly slashed, thus forcing the Spartan out of the fight. _So that is the power of the head of the royal guard,_ Pyrrha though to herself before crumbling unconscious on the ground.

Filling with rage over both of her friends being defeated without the opponent breaking a sweat, Ruby launched into a rage not unlike her sister when she loses a piece of hair. All of her blows were effortless parried by Jeremiah until they both heard a beeping noise and saw a grenade laying on the ground between them. They barely had time to lock eyes in confusion as they were both launched into separate pillars.

"Sorry about that," one of the underclassmen from what Ruby recognized as team RDDD said as he lobbed another grenade while following his other two team members who were trying to provide the huntress with support.

"Us and team BLLE decided to put our rivalry away for a little while to help you lead the others to safety," the leader of team RDDD said as he fired his shotgun and pointed towards where the other team was helping Pyrrha and Jaune off the ground while also firing at the Britannian.

"Team PRFL is trying to figure out how to fly and land one of the Bullheads to evacuate us all," The leader of team BLLE said firing a sniper rifle only to miss Jeremiah but about twenty feet. "Are you sure you aren't blind?" one of the members of team RDDD heckled as he missed with a rocket launcher.

 _There are just too many of these hunters,_ Jeremiah thought to himself as he pressed a button that would signal the Sutherland Sieg to pick him up and evacuate.

"Score one for the guys at Beacon," the grenadier shouted after Jeremiah retreated from the school and a large bullhead being piloted by their upperclassmen that was still underclassmen to Ruby landed. "What did I miss?" Jaune asked rubbing the back of his neck since he just now recovered from the blow from Jeremiah.

"We won here against the cyborg guard assassin guy but the fighting in Vale is getting even heavier," Ruby said pointing out where a large explosion erupted from somewhere in the city. "Did you heard from the others before you came to help me," Ruby asked the duo after the underclassmen patched and woke up Pyrrha.

"Weiss is trying her best to try to prevent the cannons on the Caerleon class airships from blowing up the city. Nora and Ren were busy with Glouchesters and other Knightmares. Yang is currently on the warpath fighting way to the G-1 base so she can have a rematch with Cornelia. Blake's location, as well as Sun and Neptune, is unknown." Pyrrha explained as Jaune was still trying to catch his breath.

"I didn't expect for us to be part of one of the first battles of what is looking like the next Great War, especially in our third year," Jaune wheezed trying to unsuccessfully pop his neck.

"Not to mention that it was started by someone we thought we were close to as well." Ruby lamented once the Bullhead with the younger students started to take off.

"Hey have you guys heard from Team CVFY," Ruby asked unaware of what has become of the upperclassmen.

"They vanished a few days ago though they might have defected over to the HBE since there are rumors that Coco is a duchess or something else now." Pyrrha said giving her guess for what happened to the elite team that was nowhere to be seen or heard from.

"The fighting is the heaviest in the city so that's where we should be headed," Jaune said as he guided the trio over to the last bullhead that hadn't evacuated yet. As soon as they were in the air they were horrified to see three Caerleons move away from the city and fire at the school they have lived at for the past few years.

* * *

 **G-1 Forward ground operating base, Vale**

Yang Xaio Long usually enjoyed a good street fight during the day on a Sunday afternoon, but what Yang didn't like was when the thugs were the personal guards of the Britannian Royal Family. There was one good thing about this though, these guys belonged to Cornelia so if she can beat these losers, she then might have a chance to take out Cornelia. If that happened then she might be able to give Vale and Atlas and edge in this battle.

 _If I don't stop her before the Mistral forces come to help us, they might just fall for a trap she or the emperor could have placed._ Yang thought as she pummeled the last of the Glaston Knights into an unconscious state.

"Hope you sleep well," The blonde boxer said as she gave the last knight a swift uppercut launching him a few feet in the air and several yards away. "Well I hope I get a better welcoming party then that," Yang jokingly complained as she proceeded down the hallway leaving a trail of groaning guards behind her.

Once she reached the room right before the command center, she groaned as she recognized the sole occupant of the room, Gilbert G.P. Guilford.

"Didn't you learn your lesson last time we fought and I even went easy on you," Yang inquired as she slowly strutted towards the older man.

"I will not let you get past me and challenge my lady." Guilford said as he quickly dodged the first punch of Yang's before slamming the hilt of his sword, a replica of his Knightmare Frame's MVS, into Yang's gut. Yang reeled back from the pain in her stomach. Using the anger that was building inside her at how Cornelia is so close but her knight of honor is blocking her path, Yang reloaded her gauntlets and charged at the knight.

Realizing what her plan was partially, Guilford pushed Yang's arms in different directions right before they fired and tried to slash her before Yang revealed her true target. What Guilford didn't realize until then was that Yang was trying to shatter the knight's sword leaving the man defenseless.

Swiftly trying to dodge what he thought was a punch, Guilford ducked his head down only to feel severe pain when Yang used both gauntlets to smash her elbows down on the knight's back forcing him into an unconscious state.

"I think he was more of a push over this time around," Yang thought as she walked up to the door before 'knocking kindly.' "Anyone home?" Yang asked as she smugly walked into the room after launching the door against the opposite wall.

Standing in her regal purple and white outfit was Princess Cornelia li Britannia, Chief General of the Britannian Armed Forces. _If I can take her down now then not only will I have payback but also be able to lend a hand to the others,_ Yang thought once Cornelia noticed her.

"So it was you who was wiping the floor with my men. Well I'm sorry but the princess will be capturing the dragon this time around," Cornelia said as she pulled her sword-gun out of the holster.

"Well you know dragons like to collect and steal what interest them. For me it is the victory for Vale," Yang replied as she barreled towards the Second Princess. Narrowly avoiding the other girl's fists, Cornelia stepped to the side and tried to slash Yang's arms who twisted out of the way.

The two continued to trade sword blows for punches until Yang started to use her semblance to hit harder and faster. _I can't last much longer like this,_ Cornelia thought before getting an idea. Unfortunately that idea came a tenth of a second before Yang bent over beneath the princess and launched out of the closest window and onto the ground outside the G-1.

"Let's see here, if I was some kind of general like Ironwood or Cornelia, where would I hide the maps?" Yang asked herself as she moved over to a control panel and randomly started to press buttons. Suddenly a large projector slid out from a panel and showed holograms of the city of Vale with the Atlesian-Vale forces colored red and the Britannian forces blue.

 _Why are the forces from Mistral that is about to arrive at the docks blue?_ _I thought things have changed between the kingdom and the empire?_ Yang thought to herself as the roof shook above her. Yang looked up and saw the shake was due to a pair of slash harkens being imbedded in the ceiling. "You have got to be kidding me," Yang yelled as she turned her bruised body in the direction of where she launched Cornelia to see the princess' personal Knightmare Frame rise to the window with an assault rifle in one hand and the jousting lance in the other.

"Let's see how you do against this," Cornelia said spraying the command center of the G-1 with her assault rifle as well as some explosives. Even with her aura to protect her, Yang's left arm broke from her being flung across the room by an explosive.

"Contact Schneizel and tell him we need him to dispatch a Caerleon to pick us up since the G-1 was destroyed," Cornelia said once she stopped firing. "I am not through yet!" Yang screamed as she tried to use her only good arm to propel herself towards the machine only to be caught by the outstretched prongs of Cornelia's lance. "It's time you learn your place," the purple haired princess said flinging Yang to the edge of the woods with several patrols worth of soldiers on her trail.

 _I have to get out of here and warn the others,_ Yang thought as she cradled her broken arm and ran into the woods praying that the Grimm would get the Britannians before they reached her.

* * *

 **Streets of Vale, Vale**

Nora was having fun beating the crap out the Britannians that were marching down the street to where she and Ren were trying to hold a barricade along with some Atlesian Knights. "Ren when we graduate do you think we could talk Weiss into buying one of these for me," the ginger asked as she fired a missile barrage at a trio of Gloucesters while inside her 'borrowed' Atlesian Paladin.

"Nora now is not the time to be wondering such things," Ren shouted as he used his aura to blast a hole through one of the recently released Vincent Ward model Knightmare Frames. "Come on Ren if I asked nicely do you think she would get me one?"

"Nora can we talk about this later and give me a hand here?" Ren asked as several Glouchesters barely missed him with their slash harkens. "Sure thing and boop," Nora said slamming the fist into one of the first of the Knightmare frames so hard it caused a domino effect with the others.

"Well I think we are in the clear for now," Nora said as several dozen Atlesian knights and Atlesian soldiers via VTOLs and Bullheads to provide support.

Before Ren and Nora could relax because of the additional support, Nora's Paladin flashed an alert saying something about an energy chain reaction. Without warning Ren, Nora scooped up her partner and rushed down the street away from the reinforcements as a massive black and red beam destroyed the Atlesians.

"Tag you're dead," Anya said over the speaker of her Knightmare as she piloted the Mordred to chase Nora. _So that's the power of the Knights of the Round on the battlefield,_ Ren noted as he opened fire on the Mordred hoping that Anya would keep the shields up. "See if you can find a hole in the armor," Nora said as she cursed Atlas for sacrificing their machines' flight opportunity in exchange for weaponry.

"I only have a few magazines left before I'm out," Ren said secretly thanking Atlas for making the paladins fast compared to the Mordred and some other flight enable Knightmares.

"I've got an idea but hang on and take cover," Nora told her partner with a wicked grin and took a turn sharper than even Gino could do in the Tristan. Anya wasn't as lucky since the Mordred couldn't maneuver as well and smashed into a skyscraper which slightly damaged the float system and trapping the machine and pilot in the building for now.

"Now's our chance," Nora said unleashing most of the remaining missiles to destroy the Mordred once and for all. "Not so fast there," a voice said as machine gun fire could be heard intercepting the missiles before they could hit. Realizing before Nora what just happened, Ren quickly jumped off the Paladin and rushed to somewhere safe but close enough to help possibly.

"Have you no sense of pride, Nora - attacking a defenseless, imprisoned woman?" Gino commented as he did another flyby in the Tristan's fortress mode. Nora tried to shoot the Knightmare out of the sky only to have the left arm shot off by the machine guns.

"We both know the only honor I have is that of being the biggest eater of Ren's pancakes," Nora declared launching the last of the missiles at the transforming Knightmare. Gino quickly switched out of fortress mode and vaporized the missiles with the Tristan's energy beam.

"Come me fight me like a man so I can actually have the chance to break your legs," Nora shouted as she fired the arm cannon at Gino's float system to try and level the playing field. "Nora if I come down there it wouldn't be nearly as fun," Gino taunted without lowering the altitude of the Tristan.

"Yang may be able to punch a bird out the sky but I can at least drag a cocky one down to the ground," Nora said rushing the Knightmare and jumping just high enough to grab hold of its leg and bringing the machine down to earth with it.

"I never did like the architecture of this building," Anya said as she fired the Stark Hadron cannon in the structure she was in, causing the building to collapse and the Mordred to rotate mid fall and blow up a Caerleon Airship.

"REN!" Nora screamed as the rubble fell around where Ren was hiding but she was relieved when he crawled out from hiding and fainted like how he usually does after battles. _At least he is safe,_ Nora thought before the Tristan skewered her Paladin on his polearm.

"Goodbye," Anya said as she fired the Stark Hadron Cannon at where the Paladin stood, blowing the machine up. Unbeknownst to them however, Nora managed to escape the explosion by getting out of the cockpit and propelling herself into the air with Magnhild.

Unfortunately the landing wasn't nearly as subtle as the escape since Gino and Anya both detected Nora crashing into the middle of a warehouse at the end of the street. "I hope she had a soft landing," Gino said sincerely before hearing what sounded like an energy weapon charging up. Anya and Gino barely had time to move out of the way before the warehouse doors flew off their hinges and a red and black walker exited.

"Is that one of those old Atlesian spider tanks?" Gino asked before he had to put the Blaze Luminous shields to max to counter the barrage of blasts from Nora's Spider tank. "How do you like me now," Nora jokingly asked as she had the machine slowly walk towards the Knight of Three and increasing the rate of fire.

"Which is stronger: you tank or my cannon?" Anya asked as she prepared the cannon to relieve Gino of pressure. Nora managed to have the cannons combine for one giant shot that even though it didn't overpower the Stark Hadron Cannon, it managed to disrupt the blast enough to scatter it instead of impacting her.

Gino tried to take advantage of Anya's distraction of Nora only for the girl to remember what Blake said the last time she fought a spider tank. Right when Gino was about to slash the machine with the MVS Polearm, Nora did something that the Knight of Three would never expect: Nora's tank head butted the Tristan and actually damaged the Knightmare's head and targeting system.

Taking advantage of the confused state Gino was in, Nora had one of the legs kick the Knight into the building down the street with enough force to disable the Tristan for the rest of the battle. "I will have to commit this battle to memory," Anya said firing the Stark Hadron Cannon again but missing.

Seeing if she could repeat the same trick on the Mordred from earlier but slightly different, Nora fired at the building behind the Mordred in an attempt to collapse it on top of the Knight of Six. _That building isn't going to come down in time before she can fire again I am going to need a new angle of approach,_ Nora thought before an idea came to mind.

Nora had all the cannons combine to fire one large blast right at the center of the Mordred hoping Anya would fall for the bait. Not realizing that it was a trap, Anya raised the Blaze Luminous and was flung into the sabotaged building that came crashing down on top of her and the Mordred upon impact.

Priding herself in single handily beating two of Britannia's most elite Knights, Nora went to where Ren was and brought him inside it after exiting the cockpit. "I hope Weiss isn't afraid of spiders," Nora laughed as she piloted the stolen walker towards the buildings where Weiss was attempting to hold off the Caerleons.

* * *

 **Rooftops, Vale**

Weiss almost forgot why she hated working with the android they called Penny before she went on another friendship lecture and how she was combat ready. "We are all fully aware that your weapons and programming makes you ready for combat so can you please stop saying 'I am combat ready.'"

"Well how else am I supposed to express how I am ready for combat Ruby's friend?" Penny asked as her blades dragged a Britannian VTOL into a nearby building that was abandoned.

"I don't know but sometimes you are more annoying that Ruby, my annoying dolt of a partner."

"Please don't talk about my best friend in such a negative way, Ruby is my best friend." Penny asked with a concerned expression as Weiss froze the cannon on a Caerleon.

"I can talk about her however I want Penny, she is my partner and that gives me special privileges," Weiss countered as Penny picked them up and jumped to another rooftop to avoid being smashed by the debris of an exploding Bullhead. "You're welcome friend," Penny said before Weiss could thank her.

"HMS Gallant is locking onto our position," Penny said as a Caerleon airship opened fired on their roof. Right as Weiss put up a shield glyph, the Airship exploded leaving both Weiss and Penny puzzled since most of the Atlesian fleet was busy downtown and combating the Britannian air fleet surrounding the Avalon and Ikaruga.

"So I was going to ask Ren if you could buy me an Atlesian Paladin for my birthday in a few months or maybe for Christmas. Oh and can you get me a pink one of these instead with a built in pancake maker?" Nora asked as smoke rose from the spider walker's cannons and it continued to climb a skyscraper.

"If you can be of help with that thing I will personally buy you three custom made ones that are reasonably priced," Weiss said as Nora started blasting VTOLs out of the sky as well as Knightmare Frames equipped with float systems.

"Don't worry I won't forget because Ren always did point out I have really good memory," Nora squealed in excitement as she barely missed another Caerleon due to almost falling off the roof thanks to recoil.

Looking at his holographic map in the Avalon, Schneizel's attention was caught by something that was on the rooftops by the warehouse district. _If that relic isn't destroyed our sleight of hand at the dock could be in trouble._ "Have the Victory, Harbinger and the Dominator disengage combat with the Atlesian Command Ship and target the Atlesian Spider Walker by any means necessary. The walker must be disabled and pilots captured if they are on the list." The Prime minister ordered as three of the largest Caerleons ever built were beginning to move for engagement against the hunters.

"Penny if that walker gets damaged to where it is in critical condition, or it comes crashing several dozen stories to the ground, get Nora and Ren out of there without worrying about me ok?" Weiss asked upon recognizing the three airships heading in their direction.

"I will try but what if you are in danger?" Penny asked concerned about the heiress and unsure if she was about to lose a friend since Weiss was talking unusually weird.

"Pretend I am not here and just keep those two safe no matter what," Weiss told the robot. _I know what your secret you are hiding from the rest of us is Nora and I will make sure nothing happens to you,_ Weiss thought as the Dominator got within firing range first and opened fire.

Penny blasted the Dominator in a large explosion using her beam cannon while Nora and Weiss double teamed Harbinger before it could cause any damage. The group's winning streak ran out when the Victory managed to blow up the roof that Ren and Nora's walker was on. The instability of the roof and the weight of the walker caused the machine to plummet down to the ground before Weiss could take out the cannons.

Obeying the order Weiss gave her, Penny leapt off the roof and onto the falling walker trying to make her way to where the cockpit is supposed to be. "Salutations friends," Penny said as she sliced open the cockpit like a can of sardines and threw Ren and Nora safely into the building they fell from. Penny wasn't as lucky since the walker suddenly rotated mid-air and crashed into the ground in a massive explosion catching Penny within it.

Angry at what happened to Penny, Weiss used Glyphs to move to a different rooftop and bombarded the Victory with enough glyphs to kill a herd of Goliaths. The captain of the Victory realized that death would be a better alternative than facing Schneizel's wrath for failing him for accidently killing a target, or so he thought he had. So in an attempt to take out the huntress attacking the Caerleons, the Captain of the airship ordered the helmsman to crash the ship onto the roof where Weiss was.

Being exhausted from the extreme use of her semblance, Weiss was unable to move off the roof as one of the largest Caerleons in the Britannian Air Force came crashing down onto her location with her fate being unknown to Ren and Nora who helplessly watched the battle between the lone huntress and the flying fortress.

"We have to get out of here and find the others," Ren said grabbing Nora's arm and led her to the stairwell to exit the building.

* * *

 **Ikaruga, Above Vale**

Blake sneaked through the flagship of the emperor and became increasing suspicious by the fact that she had yet to encounter a guard while she is almost to the bridge. She tried to open a door with what was supposedly the master code but an alarm went off instead.

Realizing her infiltration had failed, Blake rushed down the hallways taking turns that would take her in the opposite direction of the guards until she walked into the hangar and barely avoided being decapitated. If it wasn't for her semblance, Blake's head would have been rolling thanks to the Knight of Zero's sword.

"So you're Suzaku's replacement," Blake growled at the imposing figure in front of her. The man before her was a robust figure fully clad in midnight-black armor and a helmet with a thin slit showcasing the haunting glow of possibly red mechanical eyes.

Blake tried to find a way to escape the battle but the black knight continued to slash through her clones including the explosive fire one. _Maybe the trick I played on Torchwick in our second fight will work,_ Blake thought as she willingly got hit by the crimson MVS modeled sword so that the blade would be trapped within the freezing ice clone.

Realizing that the ice is preventing the blade from being retrieved and sensing a dust reaction charging up in Blake, the black knight activated a protocol within the suit that would transform the sword into a bullpup version of the V.A.R.I.S. rifle. _So they gave the knight Suzaku's weapon,_ Blake realized with growing anger at how the Britannians rebuilt the former knight's weapon with slight variations.

Unable to break the ice enough to fire the mini Hadron Cannon to melt the surrounding ice, the black knight resorted to firing fast enough to overheat the gun instead. The Knight of Zero managed to break free right before the large energy slash blew up the rest of the ice clone and kept going until it sliced a glouchester, on the other side of the hanger, in half. The knight was about to fire the hadron cannon at Blake but felt a few bullets bounce off the armor and weapon.

"What are you doing Knight of One," The Knight of Zero asked in a heavy synthesized voice to the assailant up on the catwalk. "Hear my decree Knight of Zero, I am hereby stripping you of your title for the emperor's safety," Aigis replied firing at her superior from her elevated position. Blake was shocked to see Aigis side with her for once and tried to use the distraction the Anti-Grimm Suppression weapon made to get in close but was unaware of the knight's blaze luminous shield.

"I am unaware you gave yourself with a shield, it's time to get serious," Aigis said firing a few rockets at the black knight and jumping down from the catwalk. The knight managed to avoid the missiles but Blake wasn't as lucky as the explosion of one caused her to do summersaults across the hangar floor and into some sakuradite fueled batteries.

 _If only they were dust fueled then I could use these to fight against that guy, or maybe I actually can._ Blake thought as she remembered something from earlier that year.

Aigis continued to hold her own against the Knight of Zero by using the force from the two Gatling guns she equipped to slowly push the knight back despite being nervous of running out of ammo eventually. Aigis tried to jump away when the guns overheated but was too slow in that the knight managed to slice the guns in half and punch Aigis in the face. Despite being one of the most dangerous beings alive, Aigis' reaction time was far slower in that she only hit her opponent once for every three punches and kicks she received.

"It is finally time, Palladion!" Aigis shouted loud enough for Blake to hear as the android activated Orgia Mode and summoned her giant cannon which she promptly fired it at her opponent's feet sending them flying against the wall. "Keep him pinned down for a few more seconds," Blake told her unlikely partner who sprinted to where their opponent was and started to become a hurricane of hits.

The Knight of Zero managed to get one good punch in that sent Aigis sliding on her feet a few yards back before she jumped into the air to avoid a large cart of energy fillers which pinned the Knight of Zero against the wall it was previously launched into.

 _This is for what you did to Adam,_ Blake thought as she sent a large energy slash towards the energy fillers. _With this you are avenged Metis, my sister,"_ Aigis thought to herself as she focused all her power away from unnecessary functions and into the largest blast ever fired from the Palladion cannon.

The entire ship shook and rumbled when the two attacks made impact with the sakuradite filled energy fillers and detonated the cart with enough force to blast the Knight of Zero out of the ship and crashing somewhere on the ground in Vale. The blast was also enough to cause the mounted Hadron Cannons to miss the Atlesian airship the gunner had targeted causing the AAS Contender from destruction.

Before she could relax about the defeat of the Knight of Zero, Blake was kneed in the stomach by Aigis who attacked the faunus relentlessly. "What happened to that unofficial truce we had back there?" Blake asked using Gambol Shroud to parry Aigis' attacks. "The Knight of Zero was my primary target with you being the secondary objective," Aigis replied giving Blake an uppercut like how Yang taught her. _Next time I see you Yang ,I am going to beat the hell out of you for teaching a robot how to box.,"_ Blake noted in her head as she fired Gambol Shroud's pistol form at Aigis.

Just as Blake prepared herself for the end as Aigis charged up the Palladion cannon but the blast never came. It took Blake a moment to realize that Aigis' Orgia mode froze the android upon running out.

 _Now is my chance to finish this,_ Blake thought to herself as she ran towards where the bridge was supposed to be and stopped upon reaching the door. "If arriving on this airship wasn't the point of no return then this doorway is."

"Your Majesty, Schneizel has just reported that targets: Heiress, and Coin have been defeated but their deaths have not been confirmed though the HMS Victory sacrificed itself to destroy the skyscraper Heiress was in. Lotus and Viking are presumably dead but according to reports from Gino, Anya, and Schneizel, the Spider Walker they stole was destroyed. Whether they escaped the destruction or not is being looked into. Additionally Cornelia reports that she has all but captured codename Dragon with several squads searching the forest near the ruin G-1 base for her. Crimson Thorn, Hoplite, and Crusader are still on the loose though Lord Bradley and the HMS Vanguard is currently searching for them." Blake recognized the voice of Cecile which confirmed that the Emperor would be on the bridge. "Master I have just heard from the leader of the Mistral Britannian forces that targets: Monkey and Poseidon, were captured at the docks upon their arrival and being transported to a holding facility."

"Drop your weapons and tell your forces to retreat back to the prewar borders," Blake demanded as she stealthily snuck into the room and put her blade up to the neck of the person sitting in the chair that was previously used to command the ship's bridge from but now was where the Emperor gave commands to the invasion force.

The royal guards and other members of the bridge looked livid at Blake's infiltration and hostage taking before the figure in the chair kicked her in the face making the former White Fang member reel back in pain. Sitting there in the seat that was supposed to belong to the Emperor was Coco Adel. "Miss me Blake," Coco asked as she rose from the seat and disarmed Blake with blinding speed causing the younger Faunus to step back in shock.

Blake was still trying to figure out how her plan went wrong when the door she entered from slid open with the actual emperor walking through.

"You lost the moment you decided to rise up and fight against me," Lelouch said as Coco messed around with Gambol Shroud trying to figure out how it worked and to be more fashionable. "Why would you do this, I thought we were friends?" Blake asked the Britannians who now had her cornered.

"Simple the reason I am doing this is for a more peaceful future. I already know the answer to the question but when there is evil in this world that justice cannot defeat, would you taint your hands with evil to defeat evil? Or would you remain steadfast and righteous even if it means surrendering to evil? I am creating a greater evil so that peace can finally be achieved," Lelouch explained.

"So why are you helping him," Blake asked Coco still unsure what her relationship with the emperor was.

"I have always been loyal to Lelouch as well as my team and nothing will stop that," Coco replied. Blake just looked at the older girl with an unstoppable rage in her eyes until she heard the click of Lelouch's pistol.

"Why would you risk you and your friends' lives when you know that if you succeeded in killing me that there was no way you would have left the ship alive and they would all be executed upon capture," Lelouch asked pointing out the flaw in Blake's plan.

"I thought that if I could kill you that the war would come to an end," Blake tried to explain. "Had I died then Schneizel would be made Emperor and you would have had almost no chance of victory with him in charge," Lelouch pointed out as he lowered the gun from Blake's head to her chest.

"Prepare the Hadron Cannons to fire upon the CCT," Lelouch ordered as Coco took her purse off her shoulder. "I hope you can find it in you to understand what I am about to do," Lelouch said as he had the cannons fire on the CCT destroying the tower and disrupting all communications between the kingdoms. Once the tower was destroyed, Blake felt a sharp pain in her back as Lelouch fired the gun and Coco smashed her purse Into Blake's head stealing her consciousness from her.

* * *

 **City of Vale, Vale**

Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha helped Ren and Nora onto the Bullhead once they tracked the two down. "We managed to knock Gino and Anya out of the fight but I think Penny got crushed by the walker Nora 'borrowed' and we don't know what happened to Weiss except the building she was on the roof of collapsed when the HMS Valiant crashed into it." Ren said recounting what happened with him and Nora. "We haven't heard from Yang, Sun, Neptune or Blake either. Team CFVY still hasn't revealed where they are as well," Ruby said once the bullhead took off.

"From what I heard Sun and Neptune got attacked when the Mistral forces turned out to be members of the Mistral Britannia military that led a coup a few days ago," Pyrrha said revealing her home's treachery.

"We need to get to a safe location first before we plan any action and we need to rest," Jaune said as the pilot took them to the refugee camp housing most of Beacon Academy and some of Vale's citizens that were displaced by the invasion.

"Do you remember before when we were all friends instead of warriors on opposing sides of the same battlefield?" Ren asked Ruby who began a flashback to two years before when they first met Britannian royalty.

* * *

 **So there you have it. I plan on having this reboot be switching between flashbacks and present day with the flashbacks leading up to this point where Britannia is invading Vale. This chapter presents with some secrets I won't reveal until the flashbacks get closer to the present time as well as some twists I have planned will become more apparent as the story progresses. So let's see the rise of the Black Prince of Remnant.**


	2. Timeline

**Hey guys I decided to help explain the backstory of my story before the first flashback chapter begins by creating a timeline. I have taken liberties with this timeline due to the fact that Monty, Miles, and Kerry never did give us a complete timeline for when specific events occur.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Code Geass**

* * *

 **The Black Prince of Remnant Timeline**

 **YBRE= Years Before Ruby Enrolled**

 **YARE= Years After Ruby Enrolled**

Records before the formation of the kingdoms and the empire are extremely disputed with each nation and ethnic group having their own version of the history before this time. The viewpoints conflict to such an extent that historians are unable to determine what truly happened during this time.

104 YBRE- The four modern kingdoms are formed: Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacou along with numerous smaller nonexistent states. The city of Pendragon invades its neighbors and forms the Holy Britannian Empire with Pendragon as the capital.

102 YBRE- The first official record of Grimm attacking humans was made after find a survivor in one of the ruins following a Grimm attack.

97 YBRE- Britannia subjugates the Faunus living in nearby villages and turns them into second rate citizens.

94 YBRE- A system that would reintegrate Faunus back most of their rights within the Britannian society was made and became the basis for the future Honorary Britannian system.

90 YBRE- The first recorded creation of what were called hunter guilds.

85 YBRE- Discontentment amongst Faunus and Humans begin to rise as well as the ambitions of Britannia which looks at it closest neighbors for potential territory.

83-79 YBRE- The Great War occurs and Britannia turns its closest neighbors into Areas 1-8. The other four main kingdoms threaten war against Britannia to liberate the eight areas. Britannia countered by preparing their military to be in constant preparation for war. Jaune's Great Great Grandfather was one of the soldiers that fought in the war.

77 YBRE- The Honorary Britannian system is implemented and becomes a staple of the culture.

74 YBRE- To celebrate the nation's 30th anniversary, the Britannian nobility system along with the knight system within the military was created.

72 YBRE- The Schnee Mining Company, headquartered in Atlas, discovers what would eventually be Dust in the deserts of Vacou. At the time Weiss' Great Grandaunt owned the company.

71 YBRE- Even with the animosity held by the two nations, cultural diffusion occurred between Atlas and the Holy Britannian Empire in that Atlas became more militaristic and incorporated the hunter guilds into a branch of the military. The Holy Britannian Empire however made the hunting of Grimm illegal since civilians protecting each other violated the "natural law of survival of the fittest." The Britannian military would counter the Grimm threat by ruthlessly exterminating them with the military without caring how many Honorary Britannians are lost as cannon fodder.

70 YBRE- The Holy Britannian Empire discovers Sakuradite but keeps it a secret from the rest of Remnant as well as targeting specific locations globally where they know are large deposits of the mineral.

68 YBRE- Britannia sparks a war with Mistral and Atlas over territory. After three months of constant warfare, Britannia successfully annexes Mistral and renames it Mistral Britannia. Atlas avoided being taken over by sacrificing Mistral in an attempt to overstretch the Britannian military and force them to stop the war.

65-58 YBRE- The Second Great War began with Atlas leading the fight against The Holy Britannian Empire and Mistral Britannia. Vale joins the fight in 64 YBRE alongside Vacou. By the end of the war, Mistral Britannia was crippled militarily and Areas 9-19 are annexed.

63 YBRE- Charles zi Britannia is born. The first international railroad is finished.

58 YBRE- Vacou is forcibly annexed into the Holy Britannian Empire and became Area 20. The current leaders at the time were executed on the Emperor's orders and the generals were conscripted at the private level into the Britannian military.

51 YBRE- Vale and Atlas combine their military might to end the Britannian occupation of Vacou and are successful in liberating the kingdom and rebuilding it to its former glory. Charles' father is assassinated at the end of the year.

50-46 YBRE- Civil war breaks out in Britannia over who takes the throne. Charles manages to occupy Pendragon with the support of Mistral Britannia and executes his relatives and other nobles who fought against him.

47 YBRE- The last of the hunter guilds are disbanded but the first of the academies is opened a few months later to train hunters.

45 YBRE- Charles is crowned Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire.

40 YBRE- Beacon academy is created with the intent of training hunters from around the world to fight the threat created by the Grimm.

37 YBRE- The Schnee Mining Company is renamed and reorganized by Weiss' grandfather into a completely different company with more emphasis on Dust than other minerals.

34-32 YBRE- The Third Great War of remnant occurs that establishes the councils in Vale, Vacou, and Atlas. The rebels lose in the Britannian Homeland but obtain partial success in Mistal Britannia by planting seeds of dissentience against the emperor.

30 YBRE- Odysseus eu Britannia is born and the White Fang is created.

28 YBRE- Schneizel el Britannia and Cornelia li Britannia are born. Atlas secretly begins to amass an air fleet on a scale never before seen under the codename "Stymphalian." This air fleet will dominate the sky without a rival for over twenty years.

26 YBRE- Project Pygmalion begins in Mistral Britannia before having to relocate to the homeland due to the events in 25 YBRE. Atlas captured a few scientist and had them begin work in their research labs. The research from these captured scientists was incomplete and led to the construction of the Atlesian Knights model 130 twenty years later along with one partial success 25 years later.

25 YBRE- Britannia decides to subjugate its oldest foe Atlas by invading from Mistral Britannia. The invasion is a failure due Atlas establishing air dominance and the deployment of the first model of Atlesian Knights. Britannian nobility was outraged not only because of the failed invasion, but also because Atlas has decided to call their military forces names based of knights like the Britannians. Following the failed invasion, Atlas launches a counter invasion directed at Mistral Britannia. Mistral Britannia is freed from Britannian control after 43 years and returns to just being Mistral. Following the embarrassing defeat of Britannia, Atlas declares an era of Pax Atlas. The Faunus take advantage of the war and stage a global revolution on the day Mistral was liberated. Britannia abandons its ambition of launching a counter attack to retake Mistral so that efforts can be focused on eliminating the Faunus threat within the homeland and areas. The Faunus revolution is put down in the other kingdoms but their goal of giving more rights and power to the Faunus was a success.

22 YBRE- The leaders of the four main kingdoms besides Britannia arrive together on the island of Vytal where peace was brought to the world since the last Great War a decade earlier. Atlas reminds the other nations that there was a war fought three years earlier that established Pax Atlas and that Mistral should be thankful for the Atlesian liberation of their nation. During their discussion of how the world has changed in the last decade, plans for the first Vytal Festival are formed with the other kingdoms being surprised by the delegates from Vale electing to invite Britannia to the tournament.

20 YBRE- The first Vytal Festival is a success with Ozpin being elected Headmaster after the festival. Mistral and Britannia face off in the Festival with historians referring to this fight as the 'clash of the sword and shield.'

19 YBRE- The Britannian military begins what will be known as Operation Orion. The military uses the products from Project Pygmalion and the full force of the military that are not on defense in case Atlas attacks to finish off the Grimm threat in the Holy Britannian Empire.

18 YBRE- Coco, Adam, Velvet, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Kallen, Suzaku, Gino and Lelouch vi Britannia are born. Aigis and her twin Metis first becomes appear during this time.

17 YBRE- Yang, Blake, Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, and the rest of the first years when Ruby enrolls are born.

16 YBRE- Nunally vi Britannia and Rolo are born. Weiss' grandfather steps down as chairman and CEO of the Schnee Dust Company which his son takes over in his place. Reports of Faunus abuse slowly begin to increase under the new leadership.

15 YBRE- Ruby is born. Labrys ends her role in Operation Orion and is the first to be transferred away from her sisters.

14 YBRE- Operation Orion is successful at eliminating an estimated 70% of all Grimm within the homeland. The products from Project Pygmalion are separated and given different tasks within the military.

12 YBRE- Summer Rose goes missing during her mission for unknown reasons. Due to her disappearance, Summer Rose is presumed dead. The products of Project Pygmalion are revealed to the world during the Vytal Festival when the leader of the Britannian delegation reveals that the Britannian competitors will be using specially made Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons.

11 YBRE- Schneizel becomes Deputy Prime Minister of Britannia. Charles reveals and ends Operation Orion to the public and how the Holy Britanninan Empire is estimated to be 90% Grimm free. Charles avoids all questions pertaining to the number of lives lost in the completion of the operation.

10 YBRE- Empress Marianne vi Britannia is assassinated and Nunally is left blind and wheelchair bound. Aigis is put on permanent bodyguard duty for the two children of Marianne. This is the first year Britannia refused to be represented in the Vytal Festival. Metis is discharged by the Britannian military and becomes known as the Freelancer of Project Pygmalion. The Britannian Military declares the destruction of all Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons.

9 YBRE- Lelouch becomes head of Aries Villa and Coco leaves Britannia to begin a career as a huntress after Lelouch begins to "recover" from the trauma of his mother's death. Rolo unlocks his semblance and begins training as an assassin for the OSI.

8 YBRE- Blake completes her first mission for the White Fang. Schneizel becomes Prime Minister of the Holy Britannian Empire. While on a mission in another kingdom, Metis encounters a young girl and leaves an impact on her after saving her from a Grimm attack. For years afterwards nobody would believe the little girl that she encountered someone with an Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon.

7 YBRE- Yang, Weiss, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha enroll in Hunter training schools. Cornelia becomes one of Britannia's most feared generals. After years of being untraceable by her own sisters, Labrys finally resurfaces as a member of Schneizel's personal guard.

5 YBRE- Ruby Rose Enrolled in Signal Academy and began construction on Crescent Rose with her uncle Qrow Branwen. Lelouch becomes Viceroy of Area 11 after being trained by Schneizel and Cornelia. Cornelia get promoted to Chief General of the Britannian Military. The Glasgow class Knightmare Frames are first deployed in combat against Grimm packs and rouge military forces. Aries Villa is relocated to the top of the Area 11 government building.

4 YBRE- Aigis is reunited with her older sister Labrys while repelling an attack on Aries Villa. The assailant was unrecognizable but whose capabilities were similar to the duo. Rumors spread that the Assailant was a creation of the recently disbanded Project Pygmalion only to be stomped out by Aigis, Labrys, Schenizel, and Lelouch who learned the truth behind his bodyguard after years of speculation.

3 YBRE- The Sutherland Knightmare Frame is developed and begins mass production. The Schnee Dust Company begins to buy equipment from the Atlesian military to defend the Dust owned by the company in case of raiders.

2 YBRE- The White Fang Changes its MO and the Order of the Black Knights, a private military organization serving Prince Lelouch, are formed led by the mysterious masked Zero. The Schnee Dust Company engages in a "shadow war" with the White Fang and also looks into purchasing equipment from the Holy Britannian Empire.

1 YBRE- After a failed mission in Area 11 and witnessing a massacre of one of the ghettos outside the settlement on orders from one of the royals who was visiting Lelouch, Blake becomes traumatized and decided to abandon the White Fang during a train heist. She is then recruited by Ozpin to attend Beacon a few months after their meeting. Team CFVY is formed at Beacon. The scientists from Project Pygmalion that was captured by Atlas finally have a partial success with Unit 433N7.

0 YBRE- Ruby first encounters Roman Torchwick and is subsequently enrolled into Beacon. Teams RWBY and JNPR are formed. The Gloucester Knightmare Frame begins mass production with the first of the Atlesian Paladins being created to counter the rapid production of new Knightmare models.

0.5 YARE- Penny, Sun, and Neptune arrive in the City of Vale as well as Ruby having her second battle with Roman. The Britannian delegation to the Vytal Festival leave for Vale with this marking this as their first participation in ten years since the death of Marianne. Prototypes of the Vincent are being tested based off the Lancelot Knightmare Frame and Akatsuki model Knightmare Frames are almost finished for the Black Knights to use.

* * *

 **Unlike Shin Megami Tenshi Persona 3 FES where Metis is heavily implied to be, but never outright stated, the shadow version of Aigis, here she is a separate entity that is Aigis' "twin." So when I am liberated from all the essays I have to do, then the first true flashback chapter will begin. Until then I hope you enjoy this and let other people know of it as well as comment. This is Bylackbre signing out.**


	3. The Actual First Chapter

**Hey guys I am back and after some planning I decided to do something a little bit differently than just jumping straight into the beginning of the flashbacks.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing except original characters and locations**

* * *

 **The Knight Trailer**

 **Ruins outside Area 14**

Suzaku Kururugi stepped off the Britannian VTOL and shivered when the wind slapped him in the face with snow. Despite wearing the winter uniform and a large heavy wool coat, the knight was still freezing as he walked around looking for underground entrances to the ruins. _I was told that seismic readings in the region are off the charts. This means either a new vault line is forming or there is a massive amount of Grimm taking residence in the underground part of the ruins,_ Suzaku thought as he found an entrance and entered.

"Well I was looking for Grimm," Suzaku said as a beowolf growled at him from the end of the hall. While the beowolf was howling at the top of its lungs to attract more Grimm to their location, Suzaku sprinted to the wolf and using the wall as a springboard, did a spinzaku kick powerful enough to break the Grimm's neck. It wasn't until he made sure the Grimm was dead that the reinforcements arrived consisting of creeps and more beowolfs though there was a few Urasi in the back.

 _Let's hope there aren't any more Grimm besides these guys,_ Suzaku thought as he took off the coat and pulled out a human sized VARIS rifle that unfolded into burst mode. As the creeps and beowolfs charged forward, Suzaku took shots at each of them using the VARIS Rifle's rapid fire burst mode. A large Beowolf, obviously the leader of the beowolves, swiped at the knight forcing Suzaku to jump back out of the way. In response to the beowolf leader's attack, Suzaku decided to holster the rifle and pull out a large metal rod from a sheath that unfolded into a much bulker replica of one of the Lancelot's MVS swords.

With both hands on the hilt, Suzaku charged towards the hulking beast and sliced it in half with one swing. He then proceeded to impale the first of the ursai before cutting the other two down. Witnessing the strength from which Suzaku massacred the Grimm, one last beowolf ran down the hallway deeper into the ruins wanting to get away from the knight. Having fallen for the bait, Suzaku kept his sword drawn and followed the monster into a giant central chamber that was supposed to be the middle of the ruins.

Waiting to entrap him was a massive army of Grimm, enough of which would wipe out Area 14 and any surrounding settlements. _If these Grimm escape then the area will be at risked of destruction. My orders were to find out what was going on but it didn't say I couldn't save Area 14 if I could,_ Suzaku told himself in his head as he pressed a button on the sword causing it to transform and split apart into two perfect replicas of his Knightmare's swords.

Prepared to kill and devour the lone knight were dozens if not hundreds of Grimm of various types though most were beowolves and creeps. Clustered around the giant pillar in the center of the room, that had a weird design etched into it making it look like a giant armored King Taijitu made of stone was spiraled around it and took up about a fifth of the chamber, were a handful of death stalkers and about a dozen King Taijitu whose collective roar was enough for the Grimm to rush the knight.

As if he was a one man army, Suzaku effortlessly overpowered and killed the countless monsters headed his way until the death stalkers started their assault. Suzaku barely avoided the first one's stinger but was knocked aside by the second one's claws. When he got back up on his feet, Suzaku sighed in annoyance at realizing one of his swords was lost when the death stalker struck him. Thanking the fact his aura prevented him from having a few smashed ribs, Suzaku pulled out the VARIS Rifle and took aim at the approaching hoard.

Beowolves and creeps fell left and right as they chased the knight who was running around and shooting at them. One of the younger death stalkers smashed other Grimm as it rushed the illusive knight and screamed when he shot one of the Grimm's eyes. The injured and partially blind beast attempted to impale its attacker with its stinger only for the knight to dodge and slice the tip of its tail off. Reeling in pain of losing its stinger, the death stalker was too slow to react to Suzaku aiming the rifle at the destroyed eye and firing rapidly at point blank range. Suzaku only stopped firing after the death stalker collapsed on the ground and one of the King Taijitu bit and flung it across the chamber. Suzaku managed to catch his breath as the Grimm growled at the others in a way that seemed to say "he is mine get away or I will eat you like I will him."

Suzaku got a few shots off before the white head missed the knight who gave the head a nasty slash along the side of its lower jaw. Rethinking their strategy in light of what happened with their usual tactic, the Grimm started to create a large coil around the knight before squeezing in to crush him. _I am going to die here_ , Suzaku thought to himself before something within him snapped and part of his thinking process that would engage the fight of flight reaction to shut down and forced Suzaku to fight for his life putting his survival and the defeat of his enemies above everything else.

The VARIS Rifle's barrel reconfigured itself to extend and fire a slower but more powerful blast. Usually this mode was reserved for emergencies or more dangerous opponents because of the recoil but now was a good time to use it according to the semblance who fired as fast as possible at the Grimm attempting to crush him in the coils. The Grimm moaned in pain as each blast took out a chuck of the double headed snake with the pain only ending when the snake couldn't take any more and just died.

The Grimm waited to see what was about to happen as a large chunk of the Grimm's carcass seeming exploded as Suzaku walked out of the large hole the VARIS rifle made. Charging at him in an attempt to overwhelm the attacker, the Grimm were effortless defeated as the VARIS made short work of large groups and the ones who did get too close were sliced open enough that if the Grimm had organs they would be falling out thanks to the sword. Once a majority of the Grimm were taken care of, Suzaku fired the rifle at the central pillar making the debris fall on top of the snakelike Grimms. What the knight wasn't aware of was the fact that the design wasn't just decorative but rather the pillar was the prison of one of the largest King Taijitu in the recorded history of Remnant.

"So that's the cause of the tectonic disturbances," Suzaku noted to himself due to the fact that each time the Taijitu tried to break free from its prison it would cause the entire room and ruins to shake in response. While Suzaku observed the giant Grimm, the Grimm was also killing off the lesser Taijitu accidently by causing large pieces of debris from its prison to smash them. Suzaku tried to use the high explosive blasts from the VARIS to do some damage to the black head only for the blasts to bounce off the heavy armor harmlessly and agitate the beast. "I am going to need a bigger weapon," Suzaku said trying make a break for the entrance of the Chamber before having the white head block his path and the black one attempt to devour him in one gulp. Fortunately for him however, Suzaku noticed that a small stone pillar existed within the snake's prison that was the real structural support that the Taijitu helped hold up while imprisoned.

Taking advantage of his discovery while still trying to walk out the ruins alive, Suzaku rolled out of the path the black head was aiming at him with and fired the VARIS when he saw an opening. The white head figured out Suzaku's plan and tried to intercept all the shots but a few managed to break through and shatter the central pillar. Suzaku didn't stick around to watch the Grimm get crushed by the collapse of the ruins but rather he bolted to the entryway he used to get into the ruins while the ceiling caved in on the chamber the Grimm were occupying. The giant King Taijitu was the last of the chamber occupants to die with his endurance being attributed to his armored scales that would make the debris bounce off at first and land on one of the Grimm trying to escape.

Right before he could reach the exit of the chamber, Suzaku noticed the missing sword the lost in the initial death stalker attack had been laying on the ground a few feet from where the first death stalker missed him. Avoiding pieces of the falling ceiling, Suzaku rushed to where the sword lied on the ground and picked it up before it was lost under a the rubble.

Suzaku rushed down the hallways decapitating and bisecting a few Grimm along the way before making it outside. He barely made it onto the VTOL when the ground beneath his feet collapsed along with the rest of the ruins leading to the death of the hundreds of Grimm inside.

"Tell the viceroy of Area 14 that the disturbances were caused by Grimm and that the area is safe now," Suzaku ordered the pilot as the VTOL left the ruined ruins behind.

* * *

 **The Ace Trailer**

 **Harbor District of Area 11**

 _How come all the bad guys always hide within warehouses or docks,_ Kallen thought to herself as she snuck through the shadows trying hard not to be caught by all the White Fang guards around her. _There he is,_ Kallen thought as she followed a well-dressed man into one of the warehouses followed by a small squad of the White Fang. Knowing that most Faunus have night vision and that they would take extra care with this meeting, Kallen pulled herself up onto the catwalk to get a better angle and maybe a better hiding spot.

"Your plan involving the Grimm failed," the White Fang officer said as Kallen got a good look at the man. He had the standard uniform for the White Fang but also wore a large unbuttoned overcoat over it with a full facial mask with a few different markings.

"Well what can you expect when you decided to try and control Grimm? We both knew that this plan wouldn't have worked and I only suggested it jokingly, you should have just gone with the bombing or kidnapping route. This is Britannia you are trying to intimidate, they could easily cut their loses when threatened and are willing to sacrifice a few villages if it means wiping out a problem like you would have caused," The man in the suit told the White Fang officer. Kallen tried to get a look at him but his hat prevented her from getting a good angle and identify him though his voice was familiar.

"Well anyway my men are in position to strike at the target soon and everything should go as planned and thankfully we are using multiple back up plans." The officer said with a smirk under his mask. "If anything the first few stages will possibly fail but just like the target we have all possibilities taken into account and won't fail."

"Take care that you don't fail. I have associates in the other kingdoms that could easily erase your movement from Remnant if we choose to do so. You can easily be replaced if we decide that it would be easier," the target said straightening his tie.

"I don't like your attitude and I suggest you consider changing it before something happens to you and your fancy suit," the White Fang captain said trying to grab the man's shoulder only for his hand to be swatted away faster than he could react. "I predicted that you would have a fifty-seven percent chance of acting hostile to my threat and a sixty-four percent chance of attempt to grab me as a response. Now I have an eighty-nine point three percent chance of taking you and your guards here out before our intruder, which I am told has a ninety-six point four chance of still being here, can interrupt the fight." The suited man said reaching into his suit.

Agitated at the suited man's assurance of victory over the White Fang operatives, the captain tried to tackle him only for the suited man to clasp onto the captain's arm and twist it behind his back. Not wanting to kill the captain due to future uses he could get out of the man, the suited man kneed the captain in the back and injected him with a few tranquilizers before throwing him towards the White Fang grunts who were racing to assist their fallen boss. These grunts however were disposable as far as he saw it and pulled out what looked like a silenced PPSH-41 and fired at the squad approaching mooks.

Kallen watched as most of the White Fang guards were cut down without remorse from the submachine gun's firing. While Kallen worked for the Black Knights who were almost constantly at war with the White Fang, she refused to kill the Faunas for personal reasons and couldn't stand watching them get killed. Before she could get involved and intervene however, the man in the suit transformed his weapon from a submachine gun into a lumberjack's axe and effortlessly fought off the White Fang with it and doing the impossible of not getting any blood on the suit.

Kallen was too late to save any of the White Fang when she jumped out of her cover and fired the standard issue Black Knight pistol at the killer. "Well if it isn't the captain of the Black Knight's Zero Squad, Kallen Kozuki or is it Stadtfeld I can never remember." The suited man said cleaning the weapon and putting it back into his suit as Kallen's bullet bounced off something invisible. Kallen was confused as to what her bullet bounced off of until a young masked man suddenly appeared revealing that he was invisible this whole time and holding a blast shield and a heavy machine gun.

"I hope you can handle this on your own though back up is ready to take your role in our plans if you fail," the man in the suit told the shield bearer as he placed an envelope on the unconscious body of the White Fang captain and left the warehouse. Kallen tried to get a few rounds off only to be intercepted by the shield. "My semblance is telling me that you have an eighty-one point six seven four percent chance of winning this fight," Kallen's target said before he finally escaped.

Angry that her prey escaped, Kallen leapt to cover to avoid the heavy machine gun fire. Kallen would occasionally try to pop out of cover to shoot only to quickly duck back under cover as her opponent would block the shot and return fire while slowly moving closer and closer. "Surrender and you death will be quick," Kallen's opponent said in a heavily synthesized voice to prevent her opponent from recognizing her. _I only have one chance left to take this guy out,_ Kallen thought upon realizing that she was down to her last magazine.

As Kallen was trying to figure out a plan for counter the shield and taking her opponent out, he was shifting the shield from one large one into two smaller shields that covered his forearms and had large swords coming out of end. Taking the chance given by her opponent dismantling the shield, Kallen rolled out of protection and fired all the rounds she had left at her foe. A few bullets were blocked by one of the shields though a few managed to hit their mark and left some pretty bad bruises despite his aura taking the brunt of the damage.

"Glad you decided to surrender peacefully" Kallen's foe said sarcastically as he raised the two shields and fired a small rocket barrage from the opposite side of the blades right at Kallen. While she jumped out of the way of most of the rockets, the last few impacted her and blew up with enough force to make her go flying out of the warehouse and into the harbor's water. Wanting to make sure that she was dead, Kallen's opponent walked to the edge of the pier and fired his machine gun at the spot where Kallen was sinking beneath the water.

"Well that was fun," the attacker said as he was about to fire the machine gun and launch a second volley of bullets when the water started to bubble and boil. He realized what was about to happen just in time to block his face and upper body as a large surge of boiling hot water surged out of the harbor directly at Kallen's opponent. Trying to ignore the pain from the burns, Kallen's opponent looked up to see her standing on the edge of the pier with a large silver and red arm like claw on her right arm. "Now it's my turn to have fun," the ace of the Black Knights said raising her real weapon and leveling it at her foe.

Kallen charged at the young man and tried to grab hold of him but missed as the shields rotated with the blades extending past his arms instead of up them. The first blade was caught by Kallen who lost her grip of it as the second blade barely missed slicing her stomach open but managing to slice her black knight uniform in such a way that her cleavage was revealed thanks to the rip. "That's a better look on you," the assailant stated while taking note of her reaction speed and very nice cleavage he exposed accidently while trying to kill her.

While blade clashed with claw, the White Fang captain woke up and decided to escape the harbor while the two main threats to his life were distracted. The attacker pulled out his heavy machine gun and fired all the bullets left until he had to reload. Kallen responded to the storm of bullets by raising the claw and activating the radiant wave surger making all the bullets disappear before they impacted with the teen. "I thought that weapon was familiar," the attacker told Kallen upon the realization that her weapon was modeled after the Guren's Radiant Wave Surger.

While Kallen's weapon was identical to the weapon on her Knightmare frame, there was one major difference that was made due to the orders given by Kallen. The difference was that the miniature Radiant Wave Surger was nonlethal most of the time. Since the full sized one used radiation to warp and blow up Knightmare frames as well as block bullets, Kallen's miniature one could also block bullets but instead of warping Knightmare frames and blowing them up with their pilots being stuck inside, the radiation overloaded smaller weapons and the Aura of whoever it clamped onto. The less aura the person has causing the bigger explosion due to the excess radiation causing an explosion, likewise the more aura the target had, the smaller the explosion would be due to the aura absorbing most of it before exploding.

 _Hopefully there is a limited charge like the actual weapon,_ the young man thought while reloading and firing again hoping to drain the weapon's charge despite fighting an almost impossible to win fight. Kallen slowly advanced like her opponent did earlier before getting close enough to grab the machine gun. The assailant released his grip on the weapon as Kallen began to warp the metal within the machine gun before it blew up vaporizing the bullets before they fly in random directs and hurt either one of them. Taking advantage of her opponent's shock of losing his machine gun so quickly, Kallen punched him in the jaw and delivered a powerful kick to the head making him reel back in pain of almost having his nose broken.

Getting fed up with how the tide of the battle has turned away from his favor, he placed his shields together and tried to bulldoze over Kallen. Kallen had just enough time to pick up an assault rifle from a fallen White Fang member that was decapitated by the axe before using the shields that were supposed to run her over as a springboard instead. Her attacker could only observe in wonder as she did a few flips in the air before making a perfect landing and firing with the assault rifle.

He managed to block the shots with the blades and turned invisible hoping to stab the girl but was caught when Kallen trapped his face in Radiant Wave Surger and smashed him into a concrete pillar with enough force to take out most of his aura. "Let me show you what this badass mother can do," Kallen shouted as she slammed her opponent into the ground and raised him into the air. He managed to deliver a nasty gash to Kallen's abdomen but it was in vain as she released a full burst straight into his face causing his aura to blow up and sending him flying several yards away while unconscious.

Kallen groaned in pain as the toll of the fight finally started to affect her as she cursed herself for letting the targets get away. Kallen then walked away from the harbor towards a hospital. Her hand that was previous within the Radiant Wave Surger which was then put away covered the gash in an attempt to stop and slow down the bleeding where her aura failed her. _I wonder how Zero is going to respond to the news that the target got away?_

* * *

 **The Bodyguard Trailer**

 **Central Highway of Area 11**

The plan that the White Fang Captain revealed to Kallen's target the night before was a success so far with the escort vehicles destroyed along with their inhabitants leaving only the car with the priority target inside. Seeing a few Sutherlands racing up the highway to rescue the Viceroy, the captain raised his weapon which was a large tank cannon and fired twice destroying the two Knightmares and killing the inhabitants that tried to come to the rescue.

Before he could relax and let his guard down at the success of his mission, the captain heard machine gun fire coming the direction of the Viceroy's car. _That doesn't sound like the firing of our rifles,_ the leader of the team said as he motioned for about a dozen or so grunts to investigate and realized that the shooting was from someone within the Viceroy's personal vehicle. "Whatever you do don't blow up that car or our mission will fail," the captain said right before the car exploded and the machine gun stopped firing. "Whoever fired that last shot that killed our target, well that bastard is going to be meeting the dead target soon," The captain said extremely pissed at his men's failure and scared for his future.

He didn't have long to worry however as one of the flaming doors exploded off its' hinges and caused a White Fang grunt to fly off the highway as a lone figure stepped out of the ruined car. Standing amongst the smoke and wreckage was a lone blonde haired girl wearing a black military-like uniform with a red tie and gloves. "The ambush went as you planned with the decoy being attacked instead," the mysterious girl stated into a phone before one of the White Fang members shot and destroyed it.

"Hostiles detected, engaging combat mode," Aigis said as she pulled the uniform and gloves off in one smooth move revealing herself as an android in front of the attackers. Stunned at their opponent suddenly stripping, the White Fang members by the edge of the highway were shocked when she lifted one of the destroyed vehicles and flung it at them. They all jumped right before the car would have made them flatter than a pancake thanks to the debris being flung.

The terrorists managed to get a hold of themselves as the Anti Grimm Suppression Weapon started to fire at them using the machine guns within her finger tips. Realizing that the girl had stopped firing and suspecting that it was so she could reload her weapons, the captain fired his cannon at the location she was shooting from only to see that she wasn't there. "Where did she go," the captain asked himself as Aigis jumped out from behind him and kicked him in the back of the head. Just as the White Fang members were about to open fire again, Aigis jumped out of the path the bullets would have taken and started to hide within the rubble again.

"Don't worry boss we will get her," the captain's right hand man said as he motioned for the White Fang members to follow him as they jumped onto the ruined motorcade and hunted for the illusive girl. Aigis revealed herself to be standing on top of one of the cars with two large boxes attached to her hips. Before they could do anything to her though, the front of the boxes opened up revealing that they weren't boxes but rather missile launchers. The captain saw a large fireball where his men used to be and could only watch in despair as his men went flying in different directions. "That's it no more holding back anymore," the captain said taking off his overcoat revealing what made him different from other Faunus: he had a large pair of wings on his back.

"Airborne threat has been detected. Initiating anti-air protocols," Aigis said launching a few missiles at the flying captain. _I am tired of playing games,_ the captain thought to himself as he turned the tank cannon into a powerful sniper rifle and intercepted the missiles. Using the missiles as a diversion, Aigis started firing her machine gun fingers while running towards the White Fang officer. The captain then changed the rifle back into a cannon and started to fire at Aigis and managing to knock her off her footing.

"Disabling all limiters! Orgia mode activate!" Aigis shouted as the gears within her body sped up rapidly and she dodged all the shots from the cannon. The captain barely saw her coming when she jumped into the air and kicked him in the side while also tried punching him but missed thanks to him swinging his cannon at her. Once on the ground, Aigis started to fire again as she ran up the side of the building hoping to get up to the same level as the avian Faunus.

Missing her with the cannon once again, the captain's aura protected him from most of the force when Aigis jumped and smashed both of her fists into the terrorist's head sending him back to the ground. The captain did catch Aigis off guard though when he grabbed her throat and used her metal body to break his fall when they both reached the ground.

As the two fighters were recovering from the crash landing, Aigis noticed two things that truly terrified the android: the joints in her legs have already locked up and part of her neck, specifically her vocal module, was destroyed. Not wanting to lock up before she can defeat her opponent, Aigis tried to announce that she was about to materialize and fire the Palladion cannon but couldn't voice it yet that didn't stop the cannon from appearing attached to her arm.

The captain was raising himself off the ground when Aigis barely missed him with the Palladion cannon, _I need to get out of here now,_ the captain thought as he started to fly up in the air and fire one last round at where Aigis laid on the ground. He had just gotten the round off and moved a little to the left when the Palladion cannon fired again but this time destroying the captain's shell and kept going before destroying his weapon and partially destroying his right wing forcing him to stay on the ground.

Struggling to keep himself standing, the captain picked up a rifle from a fallen member of the White Fang and walked over to where Aigis had completely locked up except for her face and pointed it at her head. "This is where you die!" The captain said as he aimed the rifle and Aigis shut her eyes as she heard a click and bang less than a second later.

"I couldn't have put it better myself," a voice said holstering a Britannian made pistol as he walked past where the dead captain was shot in the head and helped Aigis off the ground. "Aren't you supposed to be protecting me?" Lelouch vi Britannia, Viceroy of Area 11 and the eleventh prince, asked his bodyguard once her arm was draped across his shoulder and her head was even with his.

Aigis was relieved and felt something inside her mechanical body when he saved her but she pointed at her damaged neck as if to say she couldn't talk. "I will have Lloyd take a look and see if he can repair the part but would you mind have an almost identical voice to Kallen if she agrees to help replace your voice?" Lelouch asked trying to plan out a solution for the android's problem. Aigis nodded in agreement as the two left the scene behind them.

* * *

 **Now for the actual first of the flashback chapters**

* * *

 **Throne room within the Pendragon Palace**

Rolo stood in silence in front of Emperor Charles zi Britannia as the older man looked the young teen up and down while reading the report on the young man. _The report says he is the best assassin in the OSI thanks to his semblance but a horrible fighter at the same time He could be useful,_ Charles thought to himself as he finished reading the report.

"You are aware of what your role will be in the next few months are correct?" Charles said testing Rolo on if he already knows his job.

"I am to observe the Britannian delegation without being observed myself and to eliminate any of them if they act against the Holy Britannian Empire by working secretly with the White Fang, Atlas, or some other treasonous plot." Rolo said with a slightly happy and very bored at the same time expression on his face reciting the orders given to him from the OSI.

"You are to wait and figure out their intentions before you assassinate someone. If you cannot control your killer instinct and kill without hesitation, then you will be found out and more than likely executed for the attempted murder." Charles pointed out with his real message being that is Rolo considers killing a member of the royal family while there, he had best think twice about it before Charles has Rolo killed off for such a high level crime even if Charles was the one who gave the sociopath permission to act.

"I completely understand your highness," Rolo said as Charles dismissed him on what neither would realize would possibly be Rolo's last OSI mission.

 _Now to decide if I will be attending the Vytal Festival,_ Charles thought to himself once the assassin was out of the room and he was alone once again.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

"I am so excited!" Ruby screamed as she bounced around the room in pure joy over the message she just read on her scroll.

"What's got you so excited Rubes?" Yang asked her younger sister who had more energy than Nora after twelve cups of triple shot expressos.

"The Britannians are coming to the Vytal Festival as competitors and I entered myself into a drawing, about fourteen hundred and seventy three times but who was counting, to see a weapons demonstration of the Britannian made weapons and I just won! Do you know what this means? I was lucky enough to get picked to see what kind of weapons the Britannian military has been developing over the last few years that nobody else in the world has ever seen thanks to how secretive they are!" Ruby squeeled with so much excitement that she could barely contain it and reminding everyone in the room of how much she loves weapons.

"What is so special about the demonstration? Won't you see all of their weapons during the tournament anyway?" Weiss asked confused and trying to figure out how Ruby managed to enter herself in the drawing over fourteen hundred times.

"Well my dear friend, the Britannians are not going to be revealing the weapons that will be used in the tournament but rather what they have developed for their military since the last Vytal Festival and as a way of showing off to Atlas." Ruby said with a smug expression on her face for figuring out something Weiss didn't know about the White Fang.

"How did you even know about the drawing and that the Britannians are coming?" Blake asked confused since she had not heard anything like that recently.

"Well it was announced in the campus news email they send out every week a couple of weeks back. Also the report said that the emperor of the nation might not come but is sending the eleventh prince and those that are under his command as the delegation. I think the article said the eleventh prince was named Legolouch or something like that." Ruby said trying to remember what the article said concerning the new competitors.

"I remember him, his name is Lelouch vi Britannia and he is the current Viceroy of Area 11, my family has done some business with his are before and I got the chance to meet him. His bodyguard seems a bit off though," Weiss said remembering her previous encounters with Area 11.

"I remember hearing from an old friend that I am using to get information about the White Fang from that the cell in Area 11 was wiped out in less than twenty four hours when an incident happened at a warehouse ran by them and when they attempted a terrorist attack on the Viceroy's motorcade. He got tipped off of the ambush so he used it as a decoy and personally killed the cell leader before he could kill the viceroy's bodyguard." Blake said revealing Lelouch's reputation within the White Fang organization as someone who outfoxed them several months ago.

"What's an Area? You guys keep saying it but I don't know what it is," Ruby asked innocently as she honestly had no idea what Area 11 was.

"An Area is a settlement that was conquered by the Britannians long ago. The original name of the settlement and people were erased and replaced with a number. With the Britannians the social hierarchy often goes with the Royals on top with the nobility beneath them, the natural born civilians from Pendragon under the nobles, the honorary Britannians one level below, with the Numbers and Faunus on the bottom," Blake said revealing why the White Fang hates the Holy Britannian Empire so much.

"Mistral was the only placed they conquered that wasn't reduced to an area and once they lost that, the Britannian military has been oddly peaceful with focus being put on the elimination of the Grimm and not the erasing of Atlas from the map," Blake explained pointing out one of the reasons she thought the weapons fair was an odd course of action for the empire to take.

"Well as long as they haven't been causing problems recently I don't care because I get to see some cool new weapons and maybe upgrade Crescent Rose with what I see!" Ruby said excitedly as the message about how bad the Britannians can be to others going through one ear and out the other.

"So when will this be happening?" Yang asked curious as to what will be going on during the event.

"Well first I will have to find a partner to go with since they are allowing me to have a plus one but besides that a Britannian airship will be picking up all the visitors to the weapons fair in a few weeks during one of the off days of the tournament. While there they will be giving a weapons demonstration and be having a large buffet fit for the emperor despite him not being there. The next day when the tournament is back up and the fighting begins, the winner of the raffle, which was me and my plus one, will be able to sit with the Britannian Royals as well as the other nobles who decided to attend the event. I really want to see what weapons not powered by Dust is capable of." Ruby said with much excitement about the weapons part but not so much about the being with the Royals part.

"Well I for one would love to be amongst the social elite once again," Weiss said all high and mighty imagining herself being accepted amongst the Royals and nobility only for it to come to a screeching halt when Ruby said "no." "But why?" Weiss pleaded as Ruby hugged her older sister.

"I have already made my decision of inviting Yang and that is final," Ruby said with an expression that caused the ice queen to take a step back.

"I will go but if something comes up you can have my spot Weiss," Yang said rubbing the back of her head and accepting her little sister's offer.

"When will they Britannians arrive anyway?" Blake asked curious as to when the newest competitors of the tournament will be coming to Vale.

"Well their arrival was set back due to the airship they would be arriving in needing some routine repairs so they haven't revealed the newly decided arrival date though Coco should know since as a noble she and her team are obligated to greet the Britannians when they get here." Ruby said shocking Weiss again.

"How did you get to be such good friends with Coco that you learned she is nobility and she is one of the few that are aware of the arrival date?" Weiss asked confused as to how Ruby got to get on the good side of one of the most popular students in Beacon Academy.

"The weekly leader meeting," Ruby said with a straight face.

"What weekly leader meeting and why haven't I been invited to attend?"

"It's every Tuesday in the cafeteria after dinner and only team leaders are allowed in so that's why you were never invited to one silly," Ruby said with a goofy grin on her face as Blake got back to her book and Yang did whatever it was that Yang does in the dorm room while Ruby and Weiss got into their monthly argument concerning the leadership of team RWBY.

* * *

 **So there you have it, the first official chapter explaining the lead up to the preview chapter. I apologize if they actual chapter part and not the trailer part was short but after seeing how long the trailers were when combined, i decided to cut it a little short. Next time we will see the arrival of the Britannians as well as a few other things. Don't forget to comment and share this story with your friends. This is Bylackbre signing out and I hope you all have a good rest of the day.**


	4. The Arrival

**Hey guys it' me Bylackbre with the next chapter of The Rise of the Black Prince. To address your question Ichiyaka about the Fanaus, they lost a war to Britannia several years ago in the story and as a result they were forcibly pacified by the military despite their history within the government and where some of them held positions. This will be much more important as the story goes on. But now let's see the arrival of the Britannians.**

 **Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing since RWBY and Code Geass do not belong to me.**

* * *

 **Team CFVY Dorm, Beacon Academy**

Velvet was actually having a good day so far. Cardin has bullied her today, Oobleck didn't use her as an example of something Faunus related, and she even got to get some of her favorite carrot cake during lunch. She was even humming a song to herself as she opened the door to see her teammate crumpling and fixing a letter as if she couldn't decide if she wanted to destroy of treasure it.

"To think he would come all the way out here to Vale and got my hopes up but now he will be arriving after we leave for the mission and he is bringing that stupid arrogant woman along with him as part of the delegation from the homeland. As soon as I see her I am going to backhand slap her through the closest wall." Coco roared in rage after releasing her anger without realizing that her partner was standing in the doorway.

"I am just going to go to the library if you need me," Velvet said with a pale face wanting to get a far away from her terrifying partner.

"Relax Vel I am calming down now. I just got a letter from home saying how someone very close to me is going to be arriving for the Festival but I am going to have to miss his arrival. To salt in the wounds he also mentioned how someone I can't stand is coming along as part of the delegation." Coco said barely holding herself back from punching a hole in the wall at her own stupidity at planning. "Also we are going to miss the Dance thanks to how the weather during the mission is looking to be." Coco said which confused Velvet.

"I thought you were relived at being able to miss the Dance since you are too busy finding the perfect outfit to do any planning for it?"

"I am but I really wanted to show off my newest outfit in front of everyone," Coco said with a disappointed expression.

"Is this the one with the squirrel tail attacked to the back that I didn't like because the different squirrel Faunus would complain or the mocha coffee colored dress?" Velvet asked trying to remember the dozens of outfits her team leader had and seeing what the newest one was.

"The squirrel one was a chipmunk and so last fashion season. I was hoping to show off and impress everyone with the second dress that is caramel mocha coffee colored. There is a difference Velvet, I thought my fashion sense would have rubbed off on you by now," the leader of Team CFVY said putting her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders.

"Have you told team RWBY that they have been tasked with planning the dance now that we have a mission that will coincide with it?" Velvet asked while making sure that she had extra clothes for the mission.

"Velvet I have five days to let them know, I will be perfectly fine since I have time," Coco said fixing her beret with one of the half dozen mirrors she shared with Velvet. _Sorry I won't be there to see you arrive,_ Coco thought as she finished fixing her beret and started to leave the room.

"You never did explain the story of behind you two," Velvet told her partner after seeing the broken seal on the envelope and before Coco left the room.

"I will tell you one day but this is not day you have been waiting for," Coco replied as she left the dorm. _One day if things don't change I will tell you and I will feel happy doing so,_ the Britannian thought as she walked down the hall.

* * *

 **Team RWBY Dorm, Beacon Academy**

"If you have any cookies leave them in the jar by the door," Ruby said after hearing a knock on the door. "I really need to pay more attention instead of doodling," Ruby mumbled to herself she worked on homework for Professor Port.

"Sorry I don't have any cookies but I do have something that will make up for it," Coco said letting herself into the room.

"I am listening and aren't you a Britannian? If so can you help me figure out a question about the Grimm situation over there?" Ruby asked stumped by the question. "What was the military action called that severely depleted the number of Grimm in the Britannian Homeland?" Ruby asked before Coco could confirm that she was a Britannian.

"It was called Operation Orion and how would you like a chance to do team CFVY a major favor?" Coco asked while looking at the hanging bed. _Why hasn't that fallen and killed anyone yet? I guess whoever is sleeping in that one is most definitely fit to survive._

"Ok I am listening," Ruby said trying to remember what differentiates an Ursa from an Ursa Major.

"Team CFVY is about to head out on a mission in a few days and since the mission came up after we already agreed to set up the dance, we need someone to take the job of organizing the event for us. I figured you would be the most fit to finish the task after some of the things you have said at the weekly leader meetings." Coco stated while poking the hanging bed and watching it sway. _This is definitely going to kill someone or at least severely injure them one day._

"So you want us to replace you?"

"I wouldn't really use the word 'replace', but there's no word for 'Take over the job for us and make everything going as they are supposed to almost immediately', so we could just say replace though I would prefer we didn't." Coco said trying to avoid a word that has a much negative connotation back in Britannia.

"What's in it for me?" Ruby said curious as to what she can get out of this deal.

"I will buy you a large box of cookies and have them mailed to you, I will let you use my Gatling gun for target practice once I get back and we have some free time, and you will get the reputation of planning and setting up the dance Beacon is hosting."

"You had me convinced at large box of cookies," Ruby said pulling out her scroll to message her teammates of her decision.

"Thanks Ruby and since you said your teammates were asking when my fellow Britannians will be arriving, tell them it's next Tuesday at the Vale International Airport." Coco said as she walked out of the dorm with some other tasks to complete before calling it a day.

* * *

 **The Following Tuesday**

 **HMAS Clarent, Outside of the Kingdom of Vale's Airspace**

Usually being promoted to the Admiral in charge of an entire air fleet would be a simple job for someone like Admiral Markus Grey but when you are tasked with providing security and transportation for the Britannian delegation into potentially hostile territory, things tend to get a bit trickier. Admiral Grey was born to a pair of immigrants but that didn't stop him from rising in the Britannian military and society to the rank of Admiral in less than twenty five years of service.

"Have the Dauntless and Harbinger break away from the fleet and escort the Clarent to Vale. Notify the Captain aboard the Resolution take command of the remaining ships in the fleet with commands to not cross out of international borders without my command," the admiral ordered his XO who commanded the radioman to notify the fleet of his orders.

Grey watched from the windows as the two Caerleon class air battleships moved to the front of the Clarent and proceeded to escort the ship into the Valian airspace. "Attention all personnel, we are officially in the airspace of the Kingdom of Vale, arrival in the city will be in an estimated one hour and twenty eight minutes."

Meanwhile on the observation deck Kallen rushed to the window and watched the coastline transform into a massive forest while forgetting about the fear she had of the other occupant of the room. Reading a book about the history of the Atlesian military was one of the most feared women in Britannia: Minerva Pishyakan the Marchioness of Area Three.

Having been born in Mistral Britannia before the Atlesian military "liberated" it, Pishyakan's parents who were nobles and escaped to Area Three before they could have been arrested by the Atlesians like most Mistral Britannian nobles. Following their deaths in a freak avalanche accident, Pishyakan inherited her parent's estate and formed a criminal empire in Area Three which gave her complete control over everything in the area to the point that she is obeyed more than the official Viceroy actually is, though they never do stick around long enough before she has them transferred or executed so that they can't build up much influence. It's a common fact in Area Three that only two other people have more authority over them than Pishyakan: God and the Emperor, some weak willed royals have obeyed her orders out of fear.

The tall dark brownish possibly black haired woman rose from her seat and looked out the windows at the forest below. _Captain Akialalab had better be keeping Area Three in order since I would hate to fix something after my return from this vacation,_ the marchioness thought to herself and then relaxed since Akialalab was one of her most effective employees.

"It's a nice change of view from the giant harbor Area Three has," Pishyakan noted to Kallen who jumped when the older woman spoke. "I met a man from Vale and he was one of the best thieves in the world having stolen my heart once, I repaid him by having a bullet lodged in his throat several years later when he tried to steal part of my fortune away from me for the White Fang," The human marchioness said remembering the fateful night they had together and terrifying the young woman standing next to her. Kallen noticed a sense of nostalgia in the older woman's gold colored eyes before the door to the observation deck opened.

"The Second Princess wishes to speak with you my lady," a nervous officer told the marchioness afraid of her reputation. "Here I was enjoying the view and now I am being dragged away from it. What a shame," Pishyakan stated while following the officer to where Cornelia was.

 _Why in the world was she allowed permission to attend the event? I just hope she doesn't get arrested for some of the crimes she had ordered in the past against Atlas and the other kingdoms,_ Kallen thought as several people filed into the room to see out the windows.

"That is a wonderful view if you think about it," Gino commented while Anya took a picture so she could remember. Kallen was startled to see the two knights of the round on the ship. "I wasn't aware you two would be competing in the tournament," Kallen stated with a grin forming on Gino's face.

"We technically are but because of security issues of Atlas and the fact we are relying on the Dauntless and Harbinger for protection, me and Anya will be staying aboard the ships with our Knightmares in case Atlas or someone else tries to be funny. We will be however be part of the fighting though and trust me in that we will make it past the first round." Gino said with a goofy grin and closed eyes.

"So when will you two actually be able to leave the ship?" Kallen asked the duo as the Clarent passed over some ruins and the two escort ships slowed down.

Before Gino or Anya could answer Kallen, Admiral Grey spoke over the intercom "Attention all passengers that are to be transported to Vale for the initial first landing party please proceed to the Hangar."

"Well I guess I will see you later then." Kallen told the Knight of the Round before leaving the observation deck.

Kallen walked into the hangar and took note of the people that were gathered for departure. Standing next to Lelouch was Aigis as always, _I really shouldn't have allowed myself to be recorded for her voice, and it's weird hearing myself when talking to her,_ Kallen thought with a shudder. Lloyd and Cécile were talking to Suzaku about something though what it was probably ranges from pudding to a new upgrade for the Lancelot. Cornelia was talking with the admiral concerning something that Kallen couldn't hear because of the distance.

 _So I guess Marchioness Pishyakan won't be arriving with us on the first group,_ Kallen noted as she noticed the rest of the occupants of the hangar that weren't crew members were the Black Knight forces, who like her, were loaned to Lelouch from Zero for the duration of the festival as well as a few soldiers belonging to Cornelia that would additionally provide security.

"Listen up everyone," Cornelia said getting everyone's attention. "As soon as the Harbinger lands in the city we are all officially representatives of the Holy Britannian Empire and I am in charge until Schneizel or The Emperor arrives therefore what I say goes. The Atlesian military is preventing us from bringing the entirety of the fleet with us but plans are in place to have the restriction lifted. The OSI have prepared a temporary residence for the royals and higher ranked nobles along with some guards but there will be communication devices given to each of you if transportation is needed back to the airships or to somewhere else." Cornelia said laying out a few rules that weren't already spoken for.

"I have spoken to Zero and I am the Black Knights are to act as my personal royal guardsmen while away from the homeland. Zero squad is to keep me as secure in dangerous situations as they would Zero in such circumstances." Lelouch said as a few Black Knights grumbled about how could Zero allow himself to be sold out to the prince. Several of Cornelia's royal guard gave dirty looks at the Black Knights disgusted with the use of a private military company instead of knights like the other royals.

"Princess Cornelia I go by the call sign 479er and Harbinger is asking that the shuttles depart as soon as possible due to arrival being in thirty minutes," one of the pilot told the princess as she ducked her head out of the aircraft and back into it before Cornelia could reply. "You heard the pilot everyone on board the shuttle," the princess ordered as everyone boarded the shuttles and left for the HMAS Harbinger.

* * *

 **Vale International Airport, City of Vale**

"I thought you said Coco told you the delegation would be arriving sometime today," Weiss berated Ruby as the former grew impatient with waiting. "Ms. Schnee the weather is probably causing a delay of sorts," Ozpin said surprising the heiress from behind.

Just as Yang was about to ask if this was a prank and the Britannians were never going to come until the grounds crew started to scatter and the clouds were forcibly ripped apart as a large airship approached the ground.

Because the Britannian Government never developed landing pads for their airships because of something related to a lack of Dust, they instead relied the outdated concept of airports for landing and unloading their airships. _So this is what happens when Dust isn't integrated into your aircraft,_ Ruby thought to herself as she gaped in wonder at the large airship preparing to land.

Even if this wasn't the actual ship that brought the delegation to Vale, she was still surprised at how big it was. Descending towards the ground was one of the few Caerleon Class Airships built by the Holy Britannian Empire within the recent years and it rivaled Ironwood's airship in size. "It's huge!" Ruby screeched as she got more excited the closer the ship got to the ground.

 _So one ship is all they bring? I would have thought they would try and out do the Atlesian military,_ Ozpin thought to himself once the ship finished the landing procedure. "Well I have business to attend to," Ozpin said walking away from the large windows overseeing the landing zone towards the exit to meet up with the delegation.

"I want to get a better view of them come on," Ruby said as she practically dragged her team as close as they could get without entering a restricted area. "Are you sure this is a good idea Ruby?" Blake asked only to get a pat on the back from Yang. "You have probably done worse stuff than this," Yang said winking at the Faunus who only rolled her eyes in response.

Meanwhile at the HMAS Harbinger, Ozpin stood with Glynda and Ironwood as the ramp on the Caerleon class airship was lowered and Cornelia was the first to walk out the ship with Lelouch, Aigis, and Lloyd following behind her. "I take it you are Princess Cornelia li Britannia and Chief General of the Holy Britannia Empire," General Ironwood asked while sizing up Cornelia. "Congratulations I am glad to see your intelligence networks are keeping up with our tabloids," Lloyd said dryly while looking at one of that Atlesian Knights trying to get a read of them.

"And who might you be?" Ironwood said annoyed at Lloyd's sarcasm.

"I am Earl Lloyd Asplund. Though I prefer my job as Director of the Britannian Forces Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps known as Camelot." Lloyd stated while staring the man down with an apathetic gaze.

"So I take it you that you helped design this ship, the Clarent as well as some of the newest knightmares like the Glouchester and Sutherland?" Ironwood asked trying to get as much information out of the man about Britannian military development.

"I will admit that I had no hand in developing this ship, the Harbinger, or in those Knightmare frames. I do the occasional project for Prince Schneizel and the other royals but other than that my claim to fame comes in the form of the L-01 Lancelot Knightmare Frame." Lloyd said to Cornelia's annoyance, _this foolish Earl of Pudding will reveal all of our military secrets at this rate._

All three representatives of Beacon Academy and Atlas were surprised at the revelation that their intelligence involving the Britannians were wrong about how they would arrive and the Knightmare Frame models that are in active service though Ironwood was the only one to visibly show it. "Maybe Atlas needs to dig deeper than the tabloids for intelligence General Ironwood." Lloyd commented with a small smile appearing on Glynda's face at Ironwood's embarrassment.

"If you didn't arrive in the Clarent, then where is it? Your Prime Minister assured me that it would be the vessel you arrived in." Ozpin asked curious as to what caused the change of plans.

"We did arrive in the ship headmaster but we didn't land in it," Lelouch said motioning for Aigis to send a signal to Anya to get ready.

Before Ozpin could ask what the young prince meant, a large shadow blocked out the sun over the airport casting a massive shadow over those assembled. None of the Atlesians or Beacon Academy personnel could identify what was causing the shadow due to the heavy cloud coverage.

"That is what we arrived in Vale on," Lelouch said as Anya used the Mordred's Stark Hadron cannon to dissipate the clouds under the Clarent revealing the massive airship to the city of Vale.

"I present to you the HMAS Clarent, the world's first Ark Fleet class airship. It was named after one of the swords wielded by one of the first Emperors and designed to instill the fear of the empire wherever it goes." Lelouch said with overly dramatic flair. "This airship we landed in is measured to have a length of around two hundred and sixty meters or at eight hundred and fifty feet. The Clarent on the other hand has a length of twenty-five hundred meters or eight thousand, two hundred and two feet." Lelouch boasted with theatrical flair.

 _No wonder they didn't come with an entire fleet after Ironwood staked his claim of Vale's airspace, that ship is larger than any vehicle ever constructed by Atlas._ Glynda realized as the HMAS Dauntless appeared alongside the Clarent. _So I assume the Harbinger and the other Caerleon are the escorts or part of the escort fleet,_ Ozpin pondered upon seeing the Dauntless appear on the other side of the Ark Fleet.

Team RWBY watched with mixed emotions as the monstrous airship flew over their heads. Ruby was ecstatic to see such a masterpiece of modern engineering appear before her eyes in what can only be described as angelic beauty to the red headed teenager. _This is the greatest day of my life, or at least in the top ten_ , Ruby thought before nearly fainting in excitement over the massive airship. Weiss was trying to figure out how such a ship could possibly run on something other than Dust and how much it would have cost to not only build but also develop. _Surely the Britannians don't have resources to fund such a project or at least one on this scale?_ Weiss thought trying to figure out the details.

Yang was just standing in silence as she spent more time observing the delegation and watching as more Britannians were exiting the ship with a red headed girl, and a brown haired boy catching her eye the most. Blake on the other hand had an uneasy feeling about the raven haired boy who was doing some kind of dramatic movements with his hands before the Clarent was revealed to the city of Vale. _That is definitely the Viceroy of Area 11 but who is that girl standing beside him?_ Blake thought confused as to who in the world Aigis was in her military uniform.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, there is some last minute paperwork and negotiations that need to take place so if you would follow me Princess Cornelia," Glynda said guiding the princess and General Ironwood away to a shuttle where the four would go to Ozpin's office back at Beacon Academy.

"Well that was eventful," Lloyd said adjusting his glasses before leaving to make sure the Lancelot was being taken care of properly. "Careful that is worth more than you will ever make in your life," Lloyd shouted at a few careless workers who almost put a scratch in the Lancelot because of their carelessness.

"The Black knights have reported that they are prepared to head to the residence to set up security and are waiting for your command," Kallen reported from behind Lelouch at the top of the ramp. "Tell them to go ahead and set up a defensive perimeter and to make sure no reporters are anywhere near the residence. Tell the Zero Squad's XO to assume command until your return, you are to stay with me for now," Lelouch ordered which prompted Kallen to contact her lieutenant and give the order to assume temporary command.

"I wasn't aware that the Black Knights were going to be coming," Blake said with a perplexed expression.

"Is there something wrong with the Black Knights?" Yang asked curiously since she never heard of them.

"The Black Knights are a private military force led by a figure only known as Zero who is constantly wearing a mask. Their most common customer is Prince Lelouch and they are one of the reasons there isn't a White Fang cell in Area Eleven and Area Three have a status as unable to create a cell in at all times. Area Three prevents the White Fang from forming a cell thanks to the unofficial ruler of the Area, Marchioness Pishyakan, who supposedly killed a very high ranking White Fang officer when approached for monetary support. I have never met the woman but her reputation has her in the top ten of the White Fang's 'Priority Assassination' list and the 'Stay the Hell Away From that Person' list but it might have changed since I left." Blake said trying to remember as much information as she could.

 _I remember Father being on one of those two lists though it is probably the first,_ Weiss thought as she processed what Blake said to the group.

"So do you think we could ask her and the other Black Knights if they are here for assistance to fight against Roman if we find him and maybe even help with the search for him?" Ruby asked optimistically and with the logic that since she has red hair like Ruby she must be trustworthy.

"I am not sure since most Britannians are devout followers of the philosophy of survival of the fittest to the point that it's almost a religion over there. Sure there are a few that think this thinking is outdated especially after the supposed eradication of the Grimm from their homeland but the odds she is one of those is incredibly low." Blake said as the Black Knights drove away from the airport.

"Well he seems like he could be helpful," Ruby said point to Suzaku who was helping Mariel Lubie, Cécile's assistant, with a few boxes that were supposed to be taken to the dispatch trailer Camelot would be based out of for the duration of the festival.

"Maybe or she is his boss and is supposed to help out?" Weiss said only for Ruby to shrug her shoulders.

"Am I the only one who thinks the prince's blonde companion there could pass as Jaune's sister?" Yang asked making Weiss groan in frustration. "I swear that if she is even remotely as annoying as that wannabe Casanova, or is related to him, I swear I will wear one of the capes Ruby tried making all of us and give each of you one thousand lien."

Ruby quickly tried to calculate how many cookies and strawberries she could buy with that amount of money before her brain started to hurt and was seeing beowolves like normal people saw birds when confused. Yang was shocked to see her sister being stumped by numbers considering how much math and calculations are involved with Crescent Rose.

Yang was about to mess around with Weiss about what she did to Ruby when one of the Britannian guards walked up to them snapping Ruby out of her confusion. "Don't you know this area is off limits right now? You're lucky we are forced to place your laws above what we are used to working with or all four of you would be dead for trespassing and spying on important governmental actions," the guard said lowering the assault rifle he had aimed at the four.

Ruby tried talking her team out of trouble by going into motor mouth mode which only escalated the problem when the guard decided to counter Ruby's rapid fire speech by arguing louder and louder. The commotion reached the point that Suzaku walked over to see what was going on just as Lelouch, Aigis, and Kallen were doing the same.

"I would recommend you calm down and put your weapon away sergeant before I strip you of your rank and honor," Lelouch ordered which was enough of a threat the send the guard running.

"Sorry about that, the royal guard tends to get trigger happy around new people. Trust me on this I know from experience," Suzaku apologized while rubbing the back of his head.

 _They weren't kidding about the Britannians being highly attractive,_ Yang thought as she looked at the people in front of her. Weiss was also looking the people in front of her over to attempt to read and understand more about them.

"Don't worry about it and who are you four?" Ruby asked curious as to who the four were.

"I am Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, eleventh prince of the empire and viceroy of Area eleven." Lelouch said with excessive hand movements. "Suzaku is the brown haired boy who works for Camelot as a devicer for the Lancelot. Kallen, who is the redhead, is the captain of Zero's personal guard within the Black Knights but was loaned to me as well as a few other Black Knight personnel for my stay in Vale. Aigis is the blond haired girl that serves as my head of security and secretary."

"That is really cool! My name is Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY. Yes it's pronounced the same way as my name but it is spelled different with plenty of confusion happening occasionally. Our blond is my lovable older sister, Yang Xaio Long, and one of the coolest people I know. The girl with the white hair is Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Lastly Blake Belladonna is the black haired beauty who can be very sneaky at times," Ruby said introducing each of her team members.

Lelouch, Kallen and Suzaku all stopped dead in their tracks after Ruby introduced her team, not in memorization but rather in nervous curiosity as to what they noticed: Blake's eyes were almost the same golden color as Marchioness Minerva Pishyakan. Alarms went off in Lelouch's head that something seemed off and surely the eyes were only a coincidence but there are at least twenty two scenarios leading to different conclusions. Suzaku just brushed it off as a coincidence that the two had similar eyes. Kallen had more alarms going off in her head than a Caerleon about to crash. Aigis was just confused as to what was wrong with the man she was supposed to protect and his companions who stood beside him. _Scans indicate an increase in heartrate not unlike when anxiety is induced within the body and palms show beginning symptoms of sweating. An in depth health analysis will be necessary later once we are alone,_ Aigis thought after scanning Lelouch to see if something was wrong with the prince.

"It was a… pleasure meeting you four and since you go to Beacon do you know a Coco Adel?" Lelouch said with his hesitation being caught by Aigis, Blake, and Yang while both Kallen and Aigis were slightly off guard about Lelouch asking about a girl. _Something is definitely off with him if he is asking someone about a member of the opposite sex. Usually males his age go through hormonal changes that can affect the neurological thought process. An even more in depth physiological and psychological test will be needed to run later,_ Aigis noted while attempting to assess the situation. Kallen was just feeling something she wasn't aware of was jealousy.

"She is the leader of team CFVY which left for a mission two days ago though from what I can tell she really wished she could see her fellow Britannians," Ruby admitted to the prince.

"Thank you for trying to help," Lelouch said before one of Cornelia's soldiers reported that the prince and the rest of the delegation is to head to the residence right away.

"That was eventful," Yang said sarcastically as the group started to walk to the terminal to get the first flight back to Beacon Academy.

 _Why do I have a bad feeling about what is going to be happening soon?_ Blake thought as she followed the others.

* * *

 **Well there you guys go with the next part of the story. The Ark Fleet is a real ship in Code Geass Canon but it isn't referred to as the Clarent in the third Akito OVA. The spoiler involving the Ark Fleet will be used as well as a twist I have planned that defers from canon. I generally don't like the multiple manga that were created for Code Geass but Mariel comes from Suzaku of the Counterattack and we will see if she becomes more than a one scene character. Within nobility the rank of Marquis is beneath that of duke with a female Marquis being a Marchioness so Pishyakan's title isn't made up but is real rank in nobility. Admiral Markus Grey is named after the color gray (or grey if that is how it's spelled where you are from) and Commander Marko Ramius from the Hunt for the Red October. Well until next time this is Bylackbre out.**


	5. Introductions and Executions

" **Hey guys It's me Bylackbre with a new chapter. I apologize about the long wait for this chapter but I have been busy with a ton of essays and test so I haven't had time to work on this until recently. With finals over these next few weeks should see more chapters coming out besides this one. But to make up for the long period of time since the last chapter, here is the newest chapter of the story for you guys as an early Christmas present. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Code Geass**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

"I am pretty sure Weiss said that the speakers need to go over there."

"No I am certain she said to place them here," Yang said arguing with her sister as Blake was nowhere to be seen and Weiss was going to get more supplies.

"The diagram she gave me said that the speakers need to go over on the other side of the room," Ruby shouted back while pointing at a map Weiss gave her.

"If you are holding that map upside down, I swear I will not hesitate to drop this bass speaker right on top of you," Yang growled as she walked over to where her sister stood while carrying the speaker. "RUBY!" Yang shouted as she noticed that Ruby didn't have the map upside down but rather sideways. Yang then tried to drop the bass speaker on her sister only for Ruby to use her semblance to avoid it.

"Get back here Rubes," Yang shouted as she tackled her little sister and started to give her a bear hug. "Can't… feel…. my… ribs," Ruby wheezed right as Weiss entered the room with a box of supplies. "What in the name of Dust are you two doing and are half the things here out of place?" Weiss asked confused as to the siblings' quarrel and the misplacement of everything.

"Oh you know some good old sisterly bonding," Yang said as she elbowed her little sister in the gut making the younger daughter of Taiyang double over in agony. "I didn't elbow you that hard."

Weiss tried wrapping her head around the concept of 'sisterly bonding' but wasn't able to. "Yang I need you to place the speaker on the ground over there and afterwards I need you to go check up on Blake. She hasn't been acting normal since the fight against Torchwick in the city and I don't think the Britannians being in Vale help."

"Will do ice princess," Yang said as she placed the speaker in the correct location. Once she was done with placing the speaker, Yang left the room and went on a hunt for Blake.

"Hey since I am the team leader shouldn't I be the one making the plan for the decorations?" Ruby asked before being slapped in the back of the head and being called a dolt. "If we let you be in charge of this then it would be weapon themed and people would be dancing with their weapons instead of with each other." Weiss said scolding the younger team leader.

"I bet Crescent Rose would be a better dancer than you," Ruby mumbled under her breath quiet enough for Weiss not to comprehend what she said.

"What did you say Ruby?"

"Nothing," Ruby quickly shot back before getting back to work.

"Hey has Yang left to go check on Blake yet?" Weiss said as a shiver ran down her spine.

"Yeah why?" Ruby asked as she was setting the tables that would be used.

"Since we formed as a team and I have started to be annoyed by Jaune, I have picked up a skill for detecting when potentially frustrating blondes might be close. I don't know why but I have a bad feeling that one is really close to us." Weiss said as the door leading to the room they were in opened up and a newcomer walked in.

"Lelouch said that there was going to be a party here and I decided that I would try and lend a hand in the preparing." A tall busty blonde woman said as she strolled right in and got good look of the place.

"Who do you think you are just barging in like this and attempting to mess with a very carefully laid plan?" Weiss said before the teen turned to face her.

"My name is Milly Ashford, President of the Ashford Academy Student Council in Area 11 and a member of Britannian nobility." Milly said as she looked at the decorations. "Maybe it would be better if the balloons were red and blue instead of green and orange." Milly said as a smile creeped up on Ruby's face.

"I tried to tell her to go with the blue and red balloons but no she said the green and orange made it looked perfect." Ruby said agreeing with Milly that the balloons needed a new color.

"Trust me on this, I have planned several parties that are famous in Area 11 and even in some of the other areas that aren't too far away and nobody has ever done better than me." The blond student council president boasted only for Weiss to get more frustrated. "Well Milly consider yourself part of the crew now. My name is Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY, and the girl with the horrible taste in balloons is Weiss Schnee."

Weiss was in complete shock at how quickly Ruby came to trust Milly and started to grumble under her breathe while she did the table decorations and the duo did more planning for the party.

"How about we have the students bring their weapons so they can show them off to each other?" Ruby suggested as she and Milly shared ideas.

"I don't know about that but maybe have them fight each other to establish their dates for the dance?" Milly countered only for Weiss to bang her head on the closest table. "I have decided to tolerate your assistance but we are not going to have fights over dates," Weiss said trying to be the voice of reason in the group.

"You know you are probably right and I don't think your Professor Ozpin would allow that." Milly said in response to the heiress. _Back at Ashford I could probably make that happen and much more,_ Milly thought with a subtle grin that terrified Weiss. "Let's just get this party over with," Weiss said as she tried to get the two other girls to focus on the task at hand instead of sharing outrageous ideas.

"Didn't you say something about Lelouch?" Ruby asked when she suddenly remembered something she said when the older girl walked in the room earlier.

"Before he became the Viceroy of Area 11, and for a little bit of time afterwards, Lelouch was educated at Ashford Academy and was even the Vice President of the Student Council at one point. He even had the nickname of Lulu from one of the other members of the Council. Remind me during the dance to introduce you two to Shirley Fenette, you girls will really like her." Milly said as Ruby took a mental note to ask about Shirely and to call Lelouch Lulu at some point in the future.

"So you two met because he managed to get on the student council before becoming Viceroy of Area 11?"

"No you see the Ashford family were sponsors of Empress Marianne when she made her first public appearance and she helped with the development of the first few generations of the Knightmare Frames. As a result me and Lelouch got to know each other at a young age thanks to his mother and my family working together."

"So you guys used to be childhood friends?"

"Well we knew each other but I don't think we didn't start to become friends until Lelouch enrolled in Ashford Academy. Coco Adel was the closest thing Lelouch has to a real friend when he was younger that I am aware of though I am unaware of what their relationship is today." Milly confessed as she made a note in her head to question Coco about her relationship with the prince.

"Well if we get back to work and hurry we might be able to finish up the work before the strawberries are gone and all cookies become cold at dinner," Ruby said as she and the other two girls got back to work setting the dance up.

* * *

 **Simultaneously in Ozpin's Office, Vale**

Even though things were peaceful and calm downstairs where they were preparing for the dance, upstairs in Ozpin's office, it was anything but calm.

"I don't care how much damn security you claim to have Ironwood, one of your prototypes was hijacked and you can't account for how it was stolen from you." Cornelia said with what can almost be described as a snarl. Before General Ironwood could defend himself a voice came from the Second Princess' scroll.

"I agree with my sister on this Ironwood. A man who cannot keep his own belongings safe within his own home is not worthy of claiming to be the owner." Schneizel said through the scroll since he wasn't able to be part of the discussion physically. "Because of your own lapse in security General, I have talked with the Emperor and a last minute change was made to the Britannian delegation. Instead of having an arms faire like we promised, we will laying a trap for the White Fang in case they try to steal any of our hardware. We will be replacing the cargo of the newest Caerleon, HMAS Victory, with a single occupant instead of an armory's worth of equipment." Schneizel reported making Ozpin and Glynda confused.

 _What do the royals have planned now?_ Glynda thought as she went through a mental list of all the potential people it could be. _The Knight of One is out of the question since sending him to be a guard would be an unworthy action for the emperor's knight of honor. The Knights of Three and Six are already over here and I doubt Four, Nine, Ten, or Twelve would be available for this mission. Maybe it is a member of their legendary OSI?_ Glynda thought as she tried to piece the identity together.

"How do we know it wasn't you people who stole the Paladin and handed it over to Roman Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ironwood asked only to make Cornelia even angrier.

"We would have kept it for ourselves instead of giving to the White Fang if we stole it. We hate the White Fang more than Atlas and Vale do so do not go accusing us of suppling our enemies with the technology you were too lazy to maintain the security of." Schneizel said calmly before his sister could say something worse than Qrow would in a drunken rage.

"As I was saying earlier, a trap has been laid by me and the Emperor and now we wait to see if the Knight of Five can fulfill his duty to the Emperor." Schneizel said which set off alarms in Ozpin's head. _If what Qrow says is true, then this situation is about to become much worse than we anticipated if this is the same Knight of Five and hasn't been replaced in the last few months._

"I refuse to allow another Knight of the Round within the city." Ironwood said refusing the acceptance of another member of the Knights of the Round within the Kingdom of Vale.

"James how would you like it if they tried to prevent you from bringing in another battalion of you knights for deployment? To them there is not much difference between that and bringing in one of their Knights of the Round. Look at it from their perspective, they are just as concerned about security as you are, if not more paranoid, and bringing in one of the Emperor's personal knights can help much more than their aircraft and Knightmare frames would." Ozpin pointed out to his Atlesian counterpart.

"Now that the security problem has possibly been fixed, let's move on to another topic. Have you decided how you will separate out your delegation into teams for the tournament?" Glynda asked Cornelia since she hasn't said anything about how the Britannian delegation will be complying with the rules of separating competitors out into teams of four people.

"We are still analyzing the applications for competitors from the homeland but rest assured we will be having more than just the two teams we arrived with initially. The first team will consist of Suzaku Kururugi, Kallen Stadtfeld, Prince Lelouch' bodyguard Aigis, and a fourth member that I decided would be a member of this team before the delegation's arrival. The second team will have the Knight of Three Gino Weinberg, Knight of Six Anya Alstreim, a young man who has yet to arrive in Vale but is reported to be a very dangerous combatant, and another member who promised to compete on the team but whose whereabouts are currently unknown even to the OSI." Schneizel said sending a shiver down Ironwood's spine, _if there is someone out there that not even the OSI can track, what kind of security risk could they be to everyone else?_

"I am glad to see that since there will be some of your knights competing that there will be only fair fights correct?" Ozpin said trying to gauge the response of the Britannian standing in front of him and talking to him through a scroll.

"I can assure you that the fighting will likely be brutal but they have enough honor to fight fairly without breaking the rules of the tournament," Schneizel replied.

"Well I guess there will be some good fights this year," Ozpin said turning his chair around.

 _After seeing this man's choice of chairs, I have seen things worse than father's hairstyle,_ Cornelia thought as Schneizel ended the call.

"I will be taking my leave now and will let you know when the Knight of Five arrives if Schneizel doesn't inform you first." Cornelia stated as she walked towards the elevators and left the office.

"Why is it that every single fucking time they come up to this office you have to do something to piss them off and give me a migraine?" Glynda said scolding the general as if he was a child who kept getting in trouble for the same thing over and over again. "I know there is an old saying in Atlas about carrying a big stick but do you have to keep it up your ass all the time to the point everyone gets angry just by being around you?" Glynda asked furious as to how the meeting went.

"I was acting in a way that would be the best for the security of the Vytal Festival. I thought that if I left the paladin in a position where it could be stolen that I could catch the thief or at least use the military to capture them and restore peace before something bad happened. I figured the show of force would have been enough to force the White Fang operatives in Vale to stick to the shadows and stay peaceful for as long as the Atlesian military was here.

"James we know that the demonstration of the new models were just in an attempt to intimidate Britannia like you try with the other kingdoms. This empire will not cower in fear of your ships. They have started to build some that rival yours. They won't run in fear of your knights, they will make their own forces stronger to beat you. The concept of 'survival of the fittest' is so deeply ingrained in them that if they see something as a potential threat they will try and defeat or out do it." Ozpin said trying to instill wisdom into the general.

"That realization that they will match and eventually try and outdo us is the very reason Atlas is always prepared for war with them since they are a threat to the very existence of the kingdoms if left unchecked." Ironwood replied while holding his ground in the argument.

"I have some paperwork I need to get done James but always remember this old quote from before either of us were born: "he who fights monsters must be careful lest they become one themselves." Ozpin said dismissing the Atlesian general. _Dark days are coming faster than I hoped and we need to identify the guardian soon before things get too out of hand._

* * *

 **Twenty Minutes Later in the Beacon Academy Hallways, Vale**

"Nora where are you taking us?" Jaune asked as the shortest member of his team was marching through the halls to somewhere she continued to keep a secret.

"Well you know how when I am bored I might go exploring or purposely get on people's nerves? Well during one of my adventures I stumbled upon someone that you really need to meet Jaune, you might like her." Nora said with such a cheerful voice that didn't help convince Jaune or Pyrrha that this was a good thing. _Wait Nora is taking us to a girl that Jaune might like? This is very bad,_ the Spartan thought as she had a feeling of getting another competitor for Jaune's affections.

"When I found them out in the streets, I wasn't aware that they were Britannians and it took some 'convincing' to get them to come to campus and meet you Jaune. Really the one I wanted to introduce you to was willing but she had to drag her friend along since she couldn't leave her friend's side without angering her other friend." Nora said right before they approached the door to the library.

"Nora please tell me you didn't kidnap these people like you did those sloths you found last month." Ren said to his partner who gave him a look like he insulted her.

"I am ashamed of you Ren for accusing me of kidnapping. I only liberated those sloths from that sad place."

"That was a zoo in the middle of the city in which those sloths were very happy to be in."

"They deserved to be free from the zoo."

"Let's just discuss this some other time please?" Pyrrha asked while getting annoyed with the sloth discussion.

"Right well the two should be right in here then," Nora said opening the door to reveal Aigis and Kallen sitting at one of the tables waiting for Nora. "Aigis next time we go out to scout the city, I am not letting you drag me somewhere because someone asked nicely," Kallen told her partner who only cocked her head sideways with a confused expression on her face.

"It's so nice to see you again Aigis. It's time you meet my team members," Nora exclaimed as she rushed to the blonde and gave her a hug before dragging her and a helpless Kallen to where the rest of team JNPR was.

Ren just looked at the blonde girl and back at his team leader several times before speaking up. "I wasn't aware one of your sisters would be competing Jaune."

"Why is it that every time we meet a girl with short blonde hair and blue eyes you and Nora immediately assume she is my sister? I am also not from Britannia remember and she came with their delegation." Jaune asked with slight annoyance at the bad habit a few of his team members have picked up.

"I am perfectly capable of registering the noises coming from your mouths from this distance, and I think Kallen can say the same." Aigis stated while trying to avoid using words that would reveal she was an android.

"I apologize and would you please forgive them for they sometimes are unaware of when other people are trying to start a conversation. My name is Pyrrha Nikos," Pyrrha said introducing herself to the two Britannians.

"You're Pyrrha Nikos, the famous tournament champion? It is an honor to meet such a potentially formidable opponent. I look forward to the challenge you potentially pose if we are to fight against one another during the tournament" Aigis said taking note of the girl and remember what she was told about Pyrrha.

"Pardon my 'friend' here. She is trying her hardest to be accepted by normal people and isn't having the best luck," Kallen said apologizing for her partner's weird speech.

"Are you two sisters because you sound almost identical to each other?" Jaune asked only for Kallen to hang her head in annoyance. "No we aren't sisters and the voice thing is only a coincidence, right Aigis?" Kallen said while giving Aigis a look that said 'agree with me or else I will have Lelouch punish you for blowing your cover.'

"Yes Miss Stadtfeld is correct." Aigis said in agreement while having remembered what she was ordered to do in case someone realized she and Kallen both have a voice that is ninety eight point nine percent identical.

"Well would Miss Kallen Stadtfeld like to go to the dance with me tomorrow night?" Jaune asked after realizing Kallen's full name and how beautiful she is.

"I am sorry but that is most definitely a no from me." Kallen said rejecting the offer and making Pyrrha extremely happen but no body but the redheaded Spartan knew because she hid it so cleverly behind the mask she was so used to wearing.

"I apologize that my friend is making you have an increase of hormonal urges and depression at the same time," Aigis bluntly said as Kallen covered the android's mouth and excused the two before Aigis said anything weirder.

"That is one odd girl you have for a sister," Nora said as she started to leave the library once Kallen and Aigis was gone.

"I agree and she isn't my sister," Jaune groaned because of the rejection and Nora's insistence that Aigis is his sister.

 _I will have to keep an eye on Kallen to see if she could be a rival for Jaune's attention and affections,_ Pyrrha thought as she took one last look at the door the duo left from before heading back to team JNPR's dorm room.

* * *

 **Two Hours Later on the HMAS Victory, Over International Waters**

"Alright now is the time to initiate the operation," the White Fang commander told his men as they exited from their hiding place and headed for the storage bay. He knew the Britannians might catch word of what their allies in Vale did with the Atlesian Paladin. In anticipation of the increased security, he also had all his men that weren't already deployed on missions to assist in this operation.

The commander made sure his men avoided the cameras as they stealthily moved to the storage bay and was disappointed that he only got to kill two of the pathetic Britannians on the way. _I figured we would run into more opposition on our way to steal the weaponry,_ the commander thought as he suddenly became suspicious of how easy the operation was going.

 _Usually the Britannians are more paranoid about security but this is just sad how easy they have made things,_ the commander thought as he decapitated the guard he managed to sneak up behind. "Alright when we enter the storage bay, we all need to stick together in case there are any traps or guards that they placed there in case of a raid like this one," the commander ordered as he cleaned his blade of the headless soldier's blood.

"I want you two to open the door while the other twenty two men and women guard it in case of an ambush," the commander ordered as they were about to reach the storage bay.

Meanwhile up on the bridge, everyone was gathered around some monitors watching the events that were about to unfold in the storage bay. "The Knights of the Round may be the most elite soldiers in the military but I doubt a single one could be twenty five White Fang operatives outside their Knightmare Frames," a junior officer said only to be hushed by the others who wanted to pay attention to the video feed.

"Alright once those two get the door open we need to search for the primary target: the Knightmare Frame Gawain. Once that has been secured, we will then move on to capture any and every other Knightmare Frame we have on this list." The commander told his forces right as the doors opened up to reveal dozens of shipping crates of various sizes.

"The Gawain is bigger than other Knightmare Frames so its crate should be one of the thinner but taller ones," the operation leader stated as a few of his men climbed on top of the crates while other went between them in search of the primary objective.

 _There are far too many places for potential ambushes,_ their leader thought as the White Fang moved slowly to where the Gawain was supposed to be. "It's over here sir!" a moose faunus declared as his partners in crime moved to where the shout came from. What was waiting for them within the container was the last thing they were expecting.

"So I take it that this isn't the 3:10 airship to Pendragon and you guys aren't room service?" Sitting in a chair behind a sturdy wooden table was a man with heavily graying, but still slightly black, hair and who could crack sarcastic remarks even when over twenty guns were pointed at him. To help distinguish one another, the Knights of the round each had a color motif to go along with their overcoats, all had the golden insignia of the order but the rest of the coat could be customized to the wearer's desire. The Knight of Five had a brown motif instead of a white one like Bismarck or green like Gino.

"Where is the cargo that was supposed to be here?" The White Fang commander asked as he realized they all fell for a trap. _If we can't take the cargo for ourselves, a Knight of the Round would make a very useful hostage,_ the commander thought as he drew his sword and raised it.

"Well since I took the spot it was supposed to have, I assume it took my 3:10 flight to Pendragon. If you surrender now I promise to not kill you and let you enjoy the rest of your flight in these crates until we land upon which you will be arrested and I will collect the bounty that is on each of your heads." The Knight of Five threatened as he took his boots off the table and moved his hands under the tabletop.

"Why don't you surrender and we promise to not torture you so badly when we take you as a hostage," The White Fang commander replied only for the Knight to rise from his seat.

"I was a proud bounty hunter before I became a member of the Knights of the Round and what kind of bounty hunter would let himself be captured by such fucking pathetic maggots like the White Fang?" The Knight of Five asked as he moved his hands to cover his custom made handgun holsters.

"On second thought, why don't we just kill you instead, after all nobody insults the White Fang like that you bastard," the commander stated as he lunged at the Knight with his sword.

The White Fang commander barely had enough time to block the first bullet as the Knight whipped out one of his Mustang Single Action Military Revolver and activated his semblance. Unlike most Semblances that can be easily observed, the Knight's was completely mental in that it sped up his reaction and mental processing to the point that time almost froze around him. He quickly figured out the best trajectory to fire four bullets that would defeat the commander in an instant. The first bullet was intercepted by the sword before it could hit the commander. The second bullet ripped through the bones and fingers of the Commander's hands forcing him to drop the sword in agony. The third bullet impacted torso with enough force to make the man stumble backwards before the final bullet pierced his skull sending tiny fragments of his skull and brain back onto the terrorists behind him.

"Who wants to try and kill me next?" The Knight of Five asked as he put his revolver back in the holster before the commander's dead body hit the floor. The White Fang operatives just looked at each other and the dead body of their leader before scattering in different directions. "It's always when they run that I start to remember how old I am getting," the Knight of Five lamented as his holster finished automatically reloading the revolver with anti-aura bullets.

"Captain I want all potential exits out of the storage bay sealed and secured until I finish taking care of your pest problem," the Knight of Five ordered as all the exits were sealed before any of the White Fang operatives were able to leave. Several of the operatives were hopelessly banging on the doors and trying to find a way out when the Knight of Five caught up to them. "They are like pigs brought to the slaughter," the Knight of Five said to himself as he drew his pistols and unloaded all twelve bullets into the men and women who worked with the White Fang that were trying to escape through that exit. They could only watch as each of them were cut down by the bullets that pierced right through their auras and into either their heads where they would die instantly or into their torsos where they would bleed to death slowly. "Whatcha know there actually was a pig faunus amongst them," The knight observed after holstering his revolvers so that the holsters can reload them and checking to make sure there wasn't any survivors.

"We are stuck here, we need a plan of attack to take this guy out," the second in command of the White Fang operatives ordered. "You four get up on those crates while the rest of us set up a barricade to defend ourselves with."

"Here he comes," one of the operatives shouted as the rest of the survivors aimed their weapons in the direction a pair of boots they heard was coming from. Right before they could get a good view of the person, the light hanging right above that area went out startling the operatives enough that they opened fire without checking to see if that was the knight or not. The poor operative didn't stand a chance as the hail of bullets impacted her and she let out a hellish scream as her body was turned into something with more holes than a beowolf had teeth.

"Hold your fire before you kill another one of our operatives." The second in command ordered before he heard more gunshots and the four sharpshooters fell to the ground with bullet holes in their heads. _What is he the Grim Reaper?_ The second in command thought as he noticed several of his comrades shaking in fear of the inevitable.

The next wave of attacks came when he came out from behind them and managed to kill six of them before escaping into the maze of crates and containers. A few operatives tried to give chase but slipped on the pools of blood that was forming from the victims though that didn't stop them from continuing in their chase for the knight. _Those fools are either overconfident about their odds of killing him or want a quick death instead of going insane waiting here for him to kill us off._ The new leader didn't have to wonder long as he heard the distinct sound of the revolver go off several times without the noise of any of the operatives' weapons firing.

His final strike against the survivors came when he started to slowly walk towards them from the front. "Fuck it I will kill him now!" one of the inexperienced operatives shouted as he pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it towards the knight. The knight used his semblance to calculate the best shot which caused the grenade to be impacted by the bullet and go backwards before exploding and raining it's shrapnel over the remaining White Fang operatives.

"Do you think that was the first grenade that was tossed at me?" The knight asked as he put a bullet right the eye and into the brain of the operative who tossed the grenade. The knight proceeded to finish off each of the remaining White Fang members by executing them with bullets to the cranium before walking to where the second in command laid bleeding in a pool of his own blood. "Why do you hate the White Fang so much? How are you able to kill us faunus with such lack of hesitation?" the only living White Fang member asked when the knight approached him.

"Fifteen years ago your organization stole something from me that I valued more than my own life. It's only fair I return the favor by taking the lives of your members. Personally I have nothing against the faunus but I see no difference between a pathetic maggot and a member of the White Fang." The Knight of Five replied as he ended the operative's misery by shooting him in the head.

"Captain your pest problem has been taken care of and the rest of your flight should be smooth flying from here. I am also ordering you to brew me the best coffee you can make by the time I make it back up to the bridge," The Knight of Five ordered as his holsters made a noise informing him that the revolvers had been reloaded and are ready to be used again.

"One last thing captain, send a message to Pendragon that my standard fee of five hundred per White Fang head has them owing me twelve thousand and five hundred upon my return." The Knight of Five stated into his earpiece after making a quick count of the number of dead members of the White Fang were in the storage bay.

* * *

 **The Following Night at Beacon Academy, Vale**

Ruby was having a somewhat ok time at the dance. Sure she was happy to see Blake being her normal self again after her talk with Yang and seeing the faunus dancing with Sun but not everyone was having such a good time. Pyrrha seemed saddened about something but nobody could get her to talk about what was the cause. Penny was being watched by two soldiers so she wasn't really about to enjoy the party much. Apparently Suzaku and Kallen were being swarmed by admirers to the point that it looked like Kallen was about ready to stab someone.

 _Apparently dances aren't for everyone,_ Ruby thought as she remembered Aigis telling her that Lelouch had some paperwork that needed to be taken care of for Area 11 and wouldn't be able to attend but Aigis also seemed to be avoiding the punch bowl for some reason that Ruby couldn't figure out.

"So why aren't you enjoying the dance you helped prepare?" Shirley asked Ruby after seeing her by herself. "I can't really move around very well in high heels and Weiss wouldn't let me wear my dress with my normal boots. Why aren't you enjoying yourself out there? Are you waiting for your date to arrive?" The fifteen year old asked the older foreigner whose cheeks reddened but who's smiled disappeared for a moment. "I was hoping to see Lulu but he was too busy to make it here."

 _Her problem with Lelouch seems to be similar to Pyrrha's struggle with Jaune if how Milly made the relationship between the Prince and Shirley out correctly._ That was the thought that ran though her head as she tried to process what was going on with Shirley who was quickly dragged away by Milly.

Something that caught Ruby's eye was the person Yang was talking to. Holding a conversation with Yang was a man with a dark green and gold cloak who was half a foot taller than her. Ruby was too far away to hear what they were talking about but she could tell that they were enjoying the other's company. _Maybe I can tease sis about having a new boyfriend._

"Well I am glad some people are having a good night," Ruby told herself as she witnessed Jaune walk up to Pyrrha while wearing a dress with sneakers and Neptune was doing some kind of weird dance with Weiss next to him smiling. "I think I am going to get a breath of fresh air since it's starting to get pretty stuffy in here," the young huntress said to nobody in particular as she walked outside for a moment.

What Ruby saw outside was enough to make her curious. There was a caped man running on the ground from building to building in pursuit of a woman who was running on the rooftops. _What in the world is going on here?_

Ruby eventually followed the two mysterious figures to the CCT and had her weapon sent to her upon seeing the unconscious bodies littering the ground. _I should go get Professor Ozpin or Professor Goodwitch but then it might be too late,_ Ruby thought as she rushed into the building after getting her weapon but while forgetting to take off the high heels.

Upon entering the main control room of the CCT, Ruby finally got a good look at the man who was wearing a mask but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

"I can't believe I allowed her to beat me here. It looks like I was too late to prevent whatever it was she was planning on doing." Zero said as he looked down at the computer monitor that had the 'download complete' signal on it.

"Stop right there criminal and explain what you are doing at this place?" Ruby asked the figure before her who was wearing a mask that covered his whole head, a black cape, and a purple and gold bodysuit underneath.

"Now is not the time for our confrontation Ruby Rose. Our fight will come another day when you are ready," the masked figure said as he tossed a bomb close to where Ruby stood. Ruby managed to jump out of the way of the explosion but was unable to prevent Zero from jumping out of one of the destroyed windows. Before Ruby could go and look out the window in an attempt to see where the masked man landed, General James Ironwood walked into the room and placed his hand on the girl's shouder.

"What are you doing in here? This is a restricted area that requires high clearance to enter at this time of night." The general asked as he looked down at the young huntress.

"There were these two people that were in here and was responsible for knocking out the guards. I think one of them was named Zero or something but I am innocent. By the time I reached this room that person with the mask was the only one in here and I watched him bang his hand on one of the monitors like he was angry." Ruby said trying to convince the general that she had nothing to do with what was going on here.

General Ironwood processed what she said for a few seconds before deciding his next action. "I am ordering you as not only as a general of the Atlesian military but as headmaster of Atlas Academy to follow me to your headmaster's office for further questioning." _This is certainly going to be an interesting next couple of weeks,_ Ironwood thought as he escorted to young huntress for questioning and pondering how he can use this information in the best way possible.

* * *

 **At almost seven thousand words, which isn't including author notes, I think this is the longest of the chapters of any of my stories that I have ever written. The only chapter that rivals this in size is the chapter with the 'trailers' which this is barely bigger than and the preview chapter which is this is almost as big as if you include the author notes.**

 **So in response to the mistake made by Atlas, the Knight of Five has been summoned to provide assistance to the Britannian delegation for the Vytal Festival. Within this story, the knights of the round generally organize themselves in their chain of command based off of experience with the Knight of One being the exception since he has the most authority granted to him by the emperor. What that means is that even though Gino is the Knight of Three, the Knight of Five has been active longer than him and therefore has more influence than Gino. If you caught the reference to the revolvers' make and model you will have caught on that they are based off the Colt Single Action Army Revolvers often used by the American Army in the late nineteenth century and was iconic in the Wild West and Western movies as "the gun that won the West."**

 **Weiss has a new addition to her list of blondes that annoy her and Jaune has a new target for his feelings despite what Pyrrha wishes. Ruby is the first to realize that Zero has been confirmed to be within the city of Vale and isn't in Area 11 like the Britannians thought. Now we wait and see how all the major powers at play in Vale will act in the next few weeks within the story. This is Bylackbre signing out and hoping you have a good rest of the day and happy early Christmas.**


	6. Reunions and Bounties

**Hey guys I am back with the next chapter in the story. If you haven't watched the newest episode of RWBY yet I would highly recommend that you do since the events of that episode has caused a major shift in the events that will transpire at the end of the Vytal Festival Arc which starts in a few chapters. Also have you guys ever played the game White Knight Chronicles because you might be able to figure out a major reference to a character in that game later in this story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY and neither do I own Code Geass**

* * *

 **Ozpin's Office, Vale**

Following the eventful evening that was the dance, Cinder's infiltration, and the revelation of Zero's presence, General Ironwood was extremely pissed off. Glynda and Ozpin knew this since the career military man was pacing nonstop across the office and his eyes seething with rage. Ruby had already given her account of the events from the night before and left.

"They were both here Ozpin. I refuse to fucking stand around and let things progress as they are with those threats hiding right out of our view while waiting for shit to hit the fan." Ironwood shouted at the headmaster and head instructor of Beacon Academy.

"We are fully aware of that James but we must be patient. If we move too hastily we might spook them enough to go back into hiding making all of our efforts fruitless." Ozpin replied in a calm tone while Glynda glared daggers at the general.

"I cannot stand around and do nothing while we have these bastards within the city. I told you we need to increase the security around here before either of them do something that we won't be able to sweep under the rug. I know you want to bury the hatchet with them but maybe we need to dig the hatchet into them before they do something much worse to us." General Ironwood growled as he stared down his two companions.

"I have already been in contact with both Cornelia and Schneizel and they have confirmed that Zero hasn't left Area 11 and couldn't be who Ms. Rose saw last night." Glynda said trying to hide her confusion at being unable to piece together the situation.

"We do not need to be wasting our resources on potential ghost but rather take down the threat that is most obvious right now. I received a tip from someone who said they know of Roman Torchwick's general location. They said they will be coming here shortly to personally deliver the lead. I believe that if we can capture Torchwick, he could lead us right to the person controlling him." Ozpin said as the elevator to his office opened up and its single occupant stepped out.

"Thank you for agreeing to hear me out Ozpin." Marchioness Minerva Pishyakan stated as she walked towards his desk while wearing a charcoal gray dress.

"So you are the lead that I was notified about?" Ozpin said trying to get a good look and read of the woman approaching him.

"Yes you are correct headmaster. The marchioness of Area 3, Minerva Pishyakan is the one holding the information you need to capture Roman Torchwick." Pishyakan stated as she reached for a cigarette and lit it.

"So you're the 'Queen of Crime' that I keep on hearing about? I figured it would be someone like you that has been a pain in my ass for such a long time." Ironwood stated as he finally learned the true identity of the person whose criminal empire has wreaked havoc across the world of Remnant with most of the crimes focused on the Atlesian military.

"So you must be the legendary general my logistical experts love to mess with? I was expecting you to be a bit older with how easy it is to get past security you have set up." The marchioness stated with a smirked that managed to get under the general's skin.

"What is preventing me from arresting you right now for the crimes you have committed against the various kingdoms of Remnant?" Ironwood probed as he got into a staring match with the noble.

"We aren't in Mantle so your jurisdiction in my potential arrest is nonexistent. Additionally I am a high ranking noble of the Holy Britannian Empire with enough influence to make even members of the royalty cower before me. I am also giving you information as to the location of a criminal I placed a bounty on and I really don't feel like paying my ex for the bounty I placed on Torchwick's head. If you guys captured him then the bounty would be null and I wouldn't have to pay anyone for him." Pishyakan explained only to get on more of the general's nerves who tried to make himself look more intimidating.

"General you aren't the first one of your rank that I have met and been threatened by. While I do find it really attractive when men try to be intimidating to me, I am more intimidated by skill than I am of height or rank." Pishyakan deadpanned with an apathetic gaze that reminded Glynda of Blake Belladonna.

 _So she is helping us because she doesn't want someone else to get to him first or is she helping us for some other reason?_ Ozpin pondered as he thought over as he watched the silent war being waged between the noblewoman and the general. "What information do you have that we could use in our search?"

"He uses a special brand of cigars that are only manufactured in the southern desert in the Holy Britannian Empire. That desert is to the north of Area 3 and Area 3 also happens to be the main port for the region. I have been having one of my logistical experts keep track of all special products that come out of the port, especially ones that go to my clients that are of the less than honorable profession." Pishyakan said trying to hint at how she uses some of her smugglers without outright saying it.

"So you have been using your smugglers to keep track of where all the major criminals are around the world? Why don't you give us access to your network so that we can track down the different associates of Roman to help stop whatever it is he is planning?" Glynda asked confused as to why such a powerful resource has been kept secret from her for so long.

"Well I need those clients since they tend to pay much better than most and I also plan on keeping the others around since I could easily blackmail them that way they are more valuable free than they are rotting behind bars."

"What is the price you are going to charge for giving us temporary access to your network?" Ozpin asked since he was already formulating a plan.

"We will discuss the fees later but I will consider giving you a major discount if Atlas can capture Roman before my ex captures him and drags the terrorist to my doorstep like some mangy cat with a dead prey." Pishyakan said with a disgusted look on her face.

"If you can give us the information I can assure you that I will try and have roman apprehended before the other person can reach him." Ozpin said as Pishyakan pulled an envelope out from an envelope she had in the briefcase beside her.

"If you will excuse me I will now be taking my leave of this place," the marchioness said as she started to walk towards the elevator doors.

Ozpin opened the envelope to reveal just a single piece of paper with a set of coordinates on it which corresponded with the southeastern part of Vale. "Glynda I want another Grimm extermination mission set up for later today. Make the location of interest these coordinates," Ozpin ordered as he handed her the paper.

"Don't worry about sending the students to handle the mission, I will dispatch one of the airships to take care of the problem," Ironwood stated only for Glynda to get angry at him again.

"Why is it that every solution you have to a problem is either send your military after it or force someone to stay away by using your military?" Glynda asked the general.

"I do it for the same reason you send students out to fight your battles for you. They are trained to fight against the threats that plague this world. They are hunters and huntresses in training which means that aren't fully prepared to take on the threats of this world despite that being their job. I am sending my military forces because if a life is to be lost, I would rather have it be one of the robots under my command than the life of a teen." Ironwood stated only for Ozpin to shake his head.

"I can't let you send your forces to the southeast James, if they realize that you are coming after them with a large military presence, who is to say they won't run away or attack while a portion of your army is gone? If we send in just one team then it will be small enough that Roman will just suspect that it's a routine training mission rather than an investigation. We need stealth in this situation not overwhelming firepower."

"If something happens to the team that accepts the mission, I will be coming to rescue them and will be bringing a sizable force if necessary. Dust help you if it a team from Atlas that is sent to do your 'grimm extermination' Ozpin and they don't come back." Ironwood said with a glare that sent shivers down the spine of Glynda but not Ozpin.

"Very well James and just remember what is at stake here in this situation." Ozpin said as he turned around in his chair to stare out the window where the HMAS Clarent and Ironwood's fleet were clearly visible. _Dark days are truly ahead of us if things don't change for the better._

* * *

 **Cornelia's Office, HMAS Clarent**

Cornelia was doing paperwork and was looking at a map when the Knight of Five walked into the room. "What do you need Princess Cornelia?"

"Sir Sterling I have a mission for you. You are to collect the bounty of Roman Torchwick before the Atlesian military can get their hands on him." Cornelia ordered the Knight of the Round without looking up from her notes.

"I hope you are aware that I am already hunting down leads for this particular bounty. I will give him credit on keeping an untraceable trail though my contacts have located his proximate location. He was put close to the top of my list of targets after watching the footage of his fight at the docks a while back. If my intelligence reports are correct then the threat he poses to me is now personal rather than just business. You can consider the task already done." The Knight of Five, Sir Samuel Sterling, said as he walked out of the room to where his stuff is stored.

 _If we can capture Roman, then we can make him lead us to the primary target,_ Cornelia thought as Lelouch knocked on the door and let himself in.

"Is everything going as planned on your part Lelouch?" The Princess asked her younger half-brother as he sat down in a chair across from her. "Almost everything is proceeding as planned though 'Zero' failed the mission last night. The saboteur managed to evade us and implanted the virus with enough time to escape capture. Ruby Rose prevent 'Zero' from installing a backdoor program for us into the system but he will attempt it again when all the teams have left for their missions." Lelouch replied before giving a detailed oral report of the previous night's operation.

"See to it that he doesn't fail this time. I know you have invest a lot into 'Zero' but we cannot fail when we are so close to the objective. One wrong move and there will be more grimm at our feet and blood on our hands than we need to have. We must proceed carefully since Ironwood is looking for any excuse to force our fleet to vacate the city's airspace." Cornelia warned as she stood up and looked out a window towards the direction of Beacon Academy. "We will set right what went wrong back then and restore what was stolen from us."

"You just need to handle Ironwood and keep the wool over his eyes concerning what our plan actually is. I will handle those that might be a threat and make sure there isn't any interference from them or the saboteur's allies. When the time comes, all tasks up to that point will have been cleared. If we run into opposition at the last stage we always have our trump cards we can deploy to ensure victory," Lelouch said as his hand unconsciously to his pocket.

"Careful not to let that confidence go to your head. I have met many generals that I have had to execute due to them assuming their plans were foolproof." Cornelia warned as she made herself a cup of tea. "So how are the combatants feeling? Ready to participate in the Vytal Festival?"

"They are ready last I checked and many of them have made friends with some of the locals. Gino last I heard has made a really good friend with Ms. Rose's older sister while Aigis has befriended a Nora Valkyria. Suzaku's morals might present a problem but if I have him with me during the endgame I might be able to prevent it from interfering with the plan long enough to achieve the primary objective. Kallen is still unaware of the truth behind 'Zero' but will be sent to the finals and serve as part of that distraction when the 'real' games begin." Lelouch reported while his sister processed the report.

"I have received reports that the three combatants for the main teams have already arrived aboard and are being briefed as to what will happen. Apparently Schneizel was unable to prevent other royals from coming to the festival." Cornelia reported which in Lelouch's mind translated into Euphie coming as well as Schneizel and a few others that could potentially create problems.

"They are just minor inconveniences, we can't let them overestimate how much they can change the plan this late into it." Lelouch responded.

"I am fully aware of that but what has me worried more is a rumor that Father is going through that phase most parents do when they really want grandchildren," Cornelia said causing both her and Lelouch's back to have shivers run down in. "Surely you don't think he is going through with that old practice do you? Sure there hasn't been word of potential marriages amongst the royal family but you don't think he is seriously playing matchmaker do you?" Lelouch asked as he formulated twelve different potential partners his father might place him with if the rumor was real.

"I don't know but I know I don't want to consider the possibility of that happening to be honest." Cornelia said as the two prayed the rumors weren't true. Britannian tabloids were always on the hunt for gossip involving Lelouch, Schneizel, or Cornelia since those three have always been reclusive concerning the media despite being in powerful places in the government.

"Whatever happens we must not let the news hear about this or whatever secrecy we have built with this plan will fall apart before we know it." Cornelia nodded in agreement with her brother before sitting down and trying to see that situation from her brother's perspective. _If this rumor about Father is true, than Lelouch's worst nightmare about Nunally could happen with her being taken away from his protection or worse, held hostage by her partner so that Lelouch will be forced to obey him. Now that I think about it, this potential of blackmailing each other through those closest to us might actually be the reason his old friend left Britannia years ago. If other people figured out how close they were, then she might have just become a pawn in someone's game to get to Lelouch._

"I have a few things to take care of here in a bit so good bye Cornelia," Lelouch said as he started to walk out of the office. "Say hello to Coco for me when you see her."

"Who said I was seeing her?" Lelouch asked as to how Cornelia knew his plan.

"Simple, I knew they had a mission in the northcentral part of Vale and a bullhead was reportedly returning to Beacon Academy from that direction with a team who just finished a mission. It's not hard to piece things together like that Lelouch. You may be hard to read on occasion but when it comes to the women in your life, you are the easiest book to read." Cornelia said but it didn't shock Lelouch since he always knew his older sister was an observant person.

"I will make sure to tell her you said hello if I run into her while running some errands." The Viceroy of Area 11 said as he left the room and walked towards the hanger bay.

 _It was always nice seeing those two together when they were younger. I hear Lady Adel is very confident, so did Lelouch rub off on her or did she rub off on him? Well I guess I will have to wait and see,_ Cornelia thought as she went back over to work on some paperwork.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

"So how about that speech Ozpin gave?" Yang asked as team RWBY left the auditorium and already had a mission exterminating Grimm in the southeast section of Vale. In reality they planned on ditching the hunter they were supposed to be shadowing and seeing if they could find any clues as to where Torchwick went.

"At least Ozpin was honest with what he was saying in the speech," Blake stated as a crowd started to form in front of them. "What is going on here?" Weiss asked as she tried to get a view over the people that were taller than her.

"It looks like team CFVY is back from their mission." Blake said which caused team RWBY to try and move around the crowd to meet up with the upperclassmen. Right about the time that team RWBY was about to reach team, Lelouch was heading over to the older beacon academy students. _Who is that woman over by where Lelouch was?_ Yang thought as she noticed the Marchioness but didn't recognize her since she never heard of her.

"Weiss do you recognize that woman over there?" Yang asked the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company who only shook her head. "I have never seen her before but she does look oddly familiar."

"Let's go see who she is," Yang said as she nudged Weiss who only sighed and followed her blonde friend.

"I thought I told you that the shipment of assault rifles were supposed to arrive in Mantle fourteen hours ago and be on their way to Mistral four hours later? I thought you had a reputation for getting things in places in time? I am going to give you three hours to get the shipment there or you will be more than replaced and your family will go on an 'extended vacation,' am I understood? Good now get going because I hate waiting." Marchioness Pishyakan told one of her employees who had recently failed her while one her scroll.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you I'm Yang Xaio Long and this is my teammate Weiss Schnee." Yang said while introducing herself and Weiss to the noblewoman who then turned towards them.

 _She looks just like an older Blake! There are some minor differences besides the major fact that this woman is completely human from the looks of it but still she looks like what Blake would look like if she was older and a human._ Yang thought to herself as the noblewoman finally stopped turning around to face half of team RWBY. "I am sorry but I am busy with a business crisis so can you please make this quick?" The marchioness asked with her frustration of the two being very obvious.

"I am sorry my teammate had to bother you in the middle of something involving your business but we were wondering you were since we have never met you before." Weiss said before Yang could make a sarcastic remark concerning the woman's attitude.

"I am Minerva Pishyakan, Marchioness of Area 3. I hope you make this quick because I don't have a lot of time before my next meeting on the Clarent."

"So Marchioness Pishyakan, you wouldn't happen to know a Blake Belladonna? She is our friend and we can't help but be reminded of her when we see you." Yang asked which caused Pishyakan to pause for a second to think about how she was going to answer this question. _I used to know a Belladonna but I had him killed fourteen years ago when he came asking me to donate money to the White Fang. I really pissed off my ex when I beat him to the kill of 'the man who helped ruin my life.' We have been on bad terms since but I never did learn why he hated Belladonna so much. Also why would he name his daughter Blake of all names?_

"I am sorry Yang dear but the name just doesn't ring a bell. Now I used to associate myself with the Knight of Five who came for the Vytal Festival and I heard him mention someone by the nameo f Belladonna before so why don't you ask him next time you see him? It seems that I am out of time now, it's nice to meet you two." Pishyakan said her goodbyes to the duo before getting on a Britannian VTOL and leaving the area behind.

"She is definitely hiding something but we need to find this Knight of Five guy and see what he knows," Yang said as she guided Weiss back to the rest of team RWBY.

"You just missed them, team CFVY just left to rest after their mission," Ruby said explaining why Coco and the rest of her team was nowhere to be seen.

"Well I think that is our bullhead over there so I think it's time we head out," Blake said as she and Ruby lead the group over to the Bullhead and Professor Oobleck.

While team RWBY was about to leave for their mission, Coco was finally having her long awaited confrontation with Prince Lelouch vi Britannia. "I thought princes were supposed to have better fashion taste? Who taught you how to dress, Clovis?" Coco jokingly asked when she saw her old friend.

"Well it's nice to see you too Lady Adel."

"I wasn't aware old friends use honorifics over in the homeland nowadays. I figured we could be a little more laid back since we aren't there." Coco said with a small smirk.

"So how was your mission?" Lelouch said ignoring Coco's remark about honorifics.

"Oh it was good, I had a boy who is a pretty good looker, despite being blind, watching my back though I think I was watching his backside more." Coco joked only for Lelouch to hang his head. "Hey I know a cute boy when I see one and while he was good looking he probably couldn't get as many girls as you." Coco said trying to defend herself.

"Um well actually… they tend to get annoying and I am pretty sure they only want me for my money and title," Lelouch said while avoiding eye contact with his old friend. _Sure there are some that I find attractive but I don't really have any interest in them._

"So no wonder I never hear anything about you having a girlfriend in the news, you're just too lazy to actually start a relationship. I heard a rumor that Charles might be playing cupid soon, good luck with that. I really feel sorry for you but since I am just the daughter of a low level duke, I don't have to worry about the Emperor playing matchmaker with me." Coco said joking around with Lelouch who just went pale at how Coco already knew.

"Don't worry about it Lelouch. I will be by your side and I will tell Charles that his choices are going to have to pass my own screening process if they want a shot at you. If he doesn't listen, well this purse is more than just an accessory," the fashionista said as she patted her purse that could also turn into a minigun.

"I am not worried, I have my own methods for getting away from any suitors Father assigns me and I doubt Aigis will allow anyone besides you and Kallen get within a hundred feet of me. Speaking of which, Aigis wanted me to thank you for allowing her to create a minigun that she can use based off yours." Lelouch said with a confident smirk.

"Coco where are you? We are going to be late for dinner and I don't want to miss the carrot cake," Velvet shouted as she ran down the halls looking for her team leader.

"Is that the famous Velvet the rabbit faunus you wrote about a while back?" Lelouch asked as Velvet finally turned the corner and saw the two Britannians together. _Is he the one Coco is always writing the letters to, even the ones she never sends?_ The rabbit faunus asked in her head as Coco waved her over.

"Velvet I am sorry for distracting you from your precious cake but I want you to meet someone. This is a friend of mine from the homeland, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, Viceroy of Area 11 and the 11th prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. Don't let him intimidate you I have enough embarrassing stories about him to keep him in line if he acts up." Coco said introducing Lelouch and giving him a slap on the ass like she does to her teammates.

Velvet was just as shocked as Lelouch when Coco slapped his ass. _I have heard many things about the royal family and how ruthless they can get. Coco must be either very special to Lelouch or her confidence has finally reached a point of no return if she can do something like that without retribution._ Velvet thought as her ears perked straight up in surprise of her leader's action. Lelouch was confused as all get out since nobody has ever done something like that to him before now. _What the hell just happened?_ That was the only thought running through the crimson faced prince's mind.

Once the prince and the faunus recovered from the fashionista's action, Velvet spoke. "I-it's an h-honor to m-meet you Prince Lelouch, Coco has nothing but good things to say about you which always causes a smile to spread on her face. I am happy to meet the person who can bring a smile to my best friend's face just by talking about him." Velvet stuttered at first before being able to speak normal by looking above the prince instead of at him.

"It's nice to meet you too Velvet. Coco has mentioned you Cardin problem and if he does anything, just let me know and I can have him put in line and never mess with you again," Lelouch promised which made a smile barely appear on Coco's face. "She also mentioned you obsession with carrot cake and you might want to hurry to dinner if you don't want to miss it."

Velvet's eyes widened in remembrance of the cake and blushed as she thanked the prince before almost hopping to the cafeteria. "You royals may be ruthless at times, but you do have your soft sides. I think what you said to Velvet made her day and earned you some brownie points with both of us." Coco told her old friend with her hand on his shoulder.

"Me, Fox, and Yatsuhashi always try to keep Velvet safe both on and off the battlefield even though she can hold her own in a fight. I need you to do something for me: if something happens to me and the other members of team CFVY, I need you to get Velvet and take her to Aires Villa and keep her safe."

"I may lie and break promises to others Coco but you are one of the few people I truly trust and I can assure you I will fulfill that promise." Lelouch said with a genuine smile that few have actually ever seen _. Coco you should already know that I will move mountains and raise hell if something happens to you or threatens you. I lost you when I needed you most after my mom died and I pushed you away in anger. I assure you that I won't let our friendship almost end when I need you more than anything in the world. That much I wish I could assure you but I don't want you so close that others will use you to manipulate me._

"Thank you Lelouch and if you treat your future wife the same way you treat me and Velvet, I can assure you she will be one of the luckiest women in the world." Coco said as her stomach growled louder than an ursa. "Well it was nice to finally see you again after such a long time. Tell Nunally I said hi and that I promise to come by next time I am in Area 11." The fashionista said as she caught Lelouch off guard in a hug. Lelouch was so surprised that his arms just stayed in the air until Coco let go and started to walk down the hall to get something to eat.

"I will let her know and remember that I will be watching the festival and cheering you on from where the royal family will be sitting." Lelouch said as he walked in the opposite direction of the leader of team CFVY.

* * *

 **Mountain Glenn, Vale**

"Nice work ladies, now that the Grimm are cleared of this area, we need to set up a location for a home base." Professor Oobleck told the exhausted members of team RWBY after they cleared out all the grimm in the sector of the abandoned city around where their bullhead dropped them off.

"Ruby do you still have that turkey you were using to play with Zwei with earlier? Because I am famished and could use something to eat." Yang asked her sister only for Yang's stomach to agree in hunger.

"You are right Ms. Xaio Long in that we all need to eat to restore our energy and Auras." Oobleck said as the base was being established in an old building.

They were all full and ready to relax when Blake heard a distinct sound over in the horizon. "I'm not the only one who hears that right," the cat faunus asked as the sound became louder and louder.

"It seems our party isn't the only one interested in investigating what is going on in these ruins." Oobleck stated as a Britannian VTOL flew overhead with an odd insignia on the side before landing behind some buildings a few blocks away.

"Grab your things ladies, we are going to see what these visitors are up to." Oobleck ordered as he readied his thermos and straightened his glasses. _I really don't feel like getting punished by Glynda if I fail to get Torchwick before the Britannians._ "Ms. Belladonna I am putting you on guard duty so don't let anything happen to the base while we are gone."

As the five were getting closer to where the VTOL landed, the sound of gunfire continued to get increasingly louder until it was suddenly silent with no noises coming from the landing site. "There aren't any traces of them being taken by the grimm since that would be obvious due to a blood trail which there isn't." Oobleck noted before his hat was shot off his head.

"You're correct professor, the grimm didn't get us nor did they get you. I am surprised to see you out in the field for once instead of a stuffy library." The man who shot off the professor's hat said as he moved from out of the shadows with his right revolver still raised. While that man was walking towards them, two more with rifles were standing in the buildings on different floors but with enough of a vantage point that if Oobleck or team RWBY tried to attack, they could easily provide enough covering fire for their boss to take cover.

"I am merely chaperoning these young huntresses on an extermination mission Sir Sterling, I will admit however that I wasn't expecting you to be the one I encountered when we went to investigate the gun shots. Don't worry we won't attack you so you can have your men stand down now." Oobleck replied while the knight signaled his men to relax and regroup.

"Um I am sorry to interrupt your conversation but who are you Mr. Sterling?" Ruby innocently asked the older knight who just looked down at the fifteen year old. _I have never seen him before but by looking at the quality of his revolvers it's obvious that he is a gun expert and maybe likes them as much as me,_ the leader of team RWBY thought as she was being stared at by the knight.

"My name is Sir Samuel Sterling, The Knight of Five of the Holy Britannian Empire. I also work part of the time as a bounty hunter and enforcer of the Emperor's will in the southern deserts of the homeland." The Knight of Five explained as Yang and Weiss were reminded of what Marchioness Pishyakan said earlier.

"Sorry to also interrupt you Sir Sterling but we have a friend named Blake Belladonna and when we asked if Marchioness Pishyakan knew the name Belladonna she said no but you might according to what she told us." Yang said once the Knight of Five finished explaining who he was.

"Why in the world would that bag of rotting filth name his son Blake? What kind of poor lowlife woman would even have a child with that man?" Sterling asked while completely unaware that Blake was in fact a girl and not a boy.

"Um I don't know why her parents gave HER the name Blake but she shared a strong resemblance to the noblewoman and so we asked her if she knew Blake." Yang said annoyed at the knight getting Blake's gender confused before meeting her.

"Wait you're saying your Blake friend goes by the name of Belladonna and looks like Minerva? If she is here then I order you as one of the Knights of the Round to escort me to her." The knight ordered as his two companions finally arrived and Ruby noticed that they used heavily modified lever action rifles with wider barrels than they historically had.

"You may be able to push people around using your title back in the Britannian homeland but here in Vale your title has no power." Oobleck stated only for a revolver to be pointed at his face before he could finish saying his sentence rapidly. "My title might not have authority but this revolver does give me a lot of influence everywhere else." Sterling said as he holstered his revolver just as quickly as he drew it. "I don't feel like killing any of you, I just want to meet this Blake girl you talk mentioned."

"Well alright I will take you to her but please keep your weapons holstered unless we are attacked," Oobleck said as he pushed by the knight and his men before leading everyone back to team RWBY's base.

Thanks to her night vision, Blake saw the group approaching before they saw her so she hid in the shadows before calling out to them. "Professor are you and the others okay? Also who are those men with you?"

"Come on out Belladonna, we aren't with the White Fang so you rest assured we aren't here to pick a fight, I just want to talk to you." The Knight of Five said before Oobleck also gave the order for Blake to come out of hiding.

"I can't believe I finally get to see you again after fifteen years." The Knight of Five said upon seeing Blake appear before him. "You probably can't tell how relieved I am to finally see you alive and well." The older knight said as he walked towards the feline faunus.

"Who are you?" Blake asked as she put her hand close to her weapon in case she needed to use it on him. Oobleck then decided to back to the base camp the huntresses made and stand guard.

"I am Sir Samuel Sterling, The Knight of Five of the Holy Britannian Empire. Also I raised you for the first two years of your life."

"Wait what do you mean? I was born and raised amongst the White Fang not under the care of Knight of the Round," Blake said angry at the accusation.

"Shortly after you were born, your mother sent a man to deliver you to me while I was just a mercenary and bounty hunter in the southern desert. I raised you there until shortly before your second birthday which at that point the White Fang attacked my home while I was gone and took you away. I have been searching for you but me and my men haven't had any luck in that area until today." The Knight of Five said as Yang looked the knight's guards over.

Both of the men with the knight were wearing odd uniforms from Yang's perspective. They had large hats that covered their faces when they angled their heads downwards. They wore bandanas over most of their faces to where their eyes were the only visible part when the hats weren't hiding them. They had some sort of body armor on that looked more advanced than those used by Ironwood's men or the regular Britannian infantry.

"Jacob Belladonna kidnapped you for the White Fang and decided that you would be raised under the assumption that you were his daughter. I was going to question him as to where your location was but he went to your mother in an attempt to gain financial support for the White Fang, she shot him in response which killed him. To say it slowed down my investigation would be an understatement. Me and your mother haven't been on good terms since then." Samuel explained as Blake and the others tried to process the truth.

"I am not sure if you are lying or not so I am just going to go back to the camp and try and get some sleep." Blake said while walking away so that she could think about the situation and what the Knight of Five said.

"Um I am going to go take Zwei on a walk before taking the guard shift," Ruby said as she and her pet left the area before Weiss and Yang followed Blake back to their camp.

"Well that could have gone better Boss," One of the Knight's guards said as the two guards waked back to the helicopter's landing site. "Johnson find a good observation spot and keep watch over those girls in case the White Fang tries any funny business during the night. I will send Smith to take your shift for you in a few hours," Sterling said as one of his guards quickly ran off into one of the abandoned buildings.

Even though team RWBY had complete trust in Ruby, they didn't anticipate her falling into a hole without her weapon. It was during Smith's shift that team RWBY realized this and he was looking away when the rest of the team and their professor left to search for the team's leader. Smith walked along the ground searching for the people from Beacon until he saw the dog tracks leading to a large hole in the ground. Smith immediately reached for his flare gun and shot it in the air while waiting for his boss and coworker to see the signal and come.

"Sir it seems that they went into this hole in possible pursuit of the White Fang, should we follow or not?" Smith reported when the Knight of Five arrived.

"I hate to risk losing the bounty to them but we need to provide as much support as possible to Blake and her team, come on." The knight ordered as the trio jumped into the hole in pursuit.

The trio kept their distance from the siege but did provide support by shooting the White Fang stragglers who tried to escape the fight by running in the opposite direction of the train.

 _Don't do it Blake,_ Sterling thought as he watched a few of the White Fang members get onto the train followed by all of team RWBY and Professor Oobleck.

"Dammit we need to find an elevator so we can get back to the VTOL now!" the knight ordered as they spent a few minutes searching for an elevator and finding one back to the surface.

Once they got out of the elevator, they made a mad dash to the aircraft and the two guards got into the cockpit a Sterling reached for a radio.

"Admiral Grey I have an urgent message for you. This is the Knight of Five, Samuel Sterling and I am ordering you to place all your men on high alert and be prepared for a search and rescue operation. There is a train full of White Fang personnel moving through the old subway system that was supposed to connect Mountain Glenn and the city of Vale together. I need your men in position and ready in case of a White Fang siege on the city or something worse. If any of your soldiers identify Beacon Academy's team RWBY, they are to provide as much support as possible and keep them safe at all cost. Do you understand Admiral? My daughter is on that team and if she becomes a casualty in this situation, I will personally execute you and anyone else I feel like is responsible for her death. That is good to hear and I will be returning to the city as fast as this VTOL will allow us." The Knight of Five ordered as his aircraft raced to the city while team RWBY battled on and in the train.

* * *

 **So with that we end the latest chapter in the story. So we now are almost at the end of RWBY's Volume 2 and are moving closer to the Vytal Festival Arc. The plan that is being implemented by Cornelia and Lelouch will be revealed later but what was "stolen" will play a major part in the history of Remnant that not many know about. Was that just a rumor or is there some truth behind the rumor about Charles? Next chapter will finally have the Britannian military in full glory. So who will be the one imprisoning Torchwick? Will it be the Atlesians or the Britannians? Who will be the one to obtain the truth that has been hidden by Roman? We will find out along with other things in the next chapter of the story.**


	7. Gatherings and Collections

**Hey guys it's Bylackbre with the newest chapter. You can say this is the last chapter of the Arrival Arc, if you want to call it that. After this chapter is over we will have the start of the Vytal Festival Arc. I have read the reviews about addition from Nightmare of Nunally and I decided to add something from that spin off. This chapter will introduce the last of the major players that have something planned during the Vytal Festival.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither Code Geass nor RWBY**

* * *

 **HMAS Clarent Bridge, HMAS Clarent**

"Your Highness, I have just received a field report from Sir Sterling reporting a potential White Fang attack on the city. I am suggesting that we pull in our reserve forces outside the border and have them divert all power to the float system and navigation so that they could arrive in the city within fourty minutes," Admiral Grey requested as Cornelia arrived onto the bridge.

"Admiral I give you permission to move the reserve forces into position and the knightmares already have my authorization for deployment into the city. If the Atlesians or General Ironwood orders the Clarent to stand down, you are to ignore their order and report that you are conducting an urban warfare exercise." The Chief General of the Britannian Military stated as she walked towards a large holographic table that showed the placement of Britannian forces in Vale.

"I want the personnel stationed at Beacon to move to the landing pad and await one of our transports to deliver them into the city to counter the threat made by the White Fang." Cornelia ordered a communications officer who started to relay a message to Aigis for deliver to Lelouch and the others.

"Victory and Harbinger have already moved to be above the center of the city in case that is where the attack is to take place. The knights are ready for deployment and sniper teams have already started to take positions on different rooftops. Thanks to the Knight of Five, whatever the White Fang has planned, we will meet crush." The admiral reported while pointing the city's center where the outlines of two Caerleon class airships were floating above the buildings and several dots symbolized ground forces that were deployed.

"The Knight of Five also reported that there will be civilians on board of the train the White Fang is traveling on. He has ordered us to either provide assistance to his daughter which is part of the team of students that boarded the train in pursuit of Roman Torchwick. He wants us to ensure his daughter's safety, so I am requesting for the deployment of the Knight of Three to provide assistance," Admiral Grey said as a he approached the map.

"All forces are to be on standby for when the attack begins." Cornelia ordered as a junior officer ran to the princess and the admiral. "Your Highness, the HMAS Victory is reporting damage from a flock of Nevermore which are flying towards the city's airspace."

"Damnit this isn't a White Fang attack, it's a Grimm attack," Cornelia realized as she ordered an officer to have the scanner detect Grimm signatures only for the radar to display a large amount of Grimm swarming towards the city on the ground and below it. "All forces are to initiate anti-grimm operations. These people are not numbers so civilian casualties are to be at a minimum for this operation." The Chief General ordered as more Grimm signatures were detected.

Admiral Grey issued the order as the Harbinger sent an alert that a large explosion was detected a few blocks away from the city center. "All forces are to engage the Grimm threat and protect as many civilians as possible." Cornelia ordered thought it didn't prevent the admiral from feeling nervous. _How is she going to explain this to the church if they investigate her orders about protecting those that aren't Britannians?_

* * *

 **City of Vale, Vale**

When the girls finally started to come around after the train crash, the first thing they noticed was that it was extremely dark despite it being around noon. It was then that they noticed that a Caerleon class airship was blocking out the sun while flight enabled sutherlands and glouchesters were pouring into the city.

 _Why are the Britannians invading the city?_ Weiss thought when she started to recover from the crash. She was worried about what the Britannians were planning until the ground a few yards away exploded and a King Taiju head shot out of the ground followed by beowolves, creeps, and deathstalkers.

Ruby ordered the four members of team RWBY to get a battle stance as the Grimm started to surround them. "It looks like this was where that train was supposed to end after all. We have to keep as many people safe as possible." Ruby ordered as she led the charge into the large crowd of Grimm that was surrounding them.

Ruby was using her scythe to slice apart the various grimm with her precious Crescent Rose without missing a step. Weiss was forming glyphs left and right to slow the tide of grimm while slicing them apart with her rapier and summoned ice blades. "You aren't getting away that easily," Yang shouted as she launched several cars at some creeps and beowolves who were racing down an alleyway.

While the four huntresses were engaged with the grimm, several ground based Knightmare frames were trying to push through the hoard of Grimm with little to no success. "This is Captain Smith of the 14th Royal Panzer Infantry Division, we are currently engaged with several hostiles that are preventing us from reaching the secondary objective. I am currently holding back the Grimm that are moving to the main highway. Additional support is requested to push the grimm back at our position." The leader of the knightmares said as he fired his knightmare's machine gun into the Grimm before several deathstalkers pierced the cockpit of another Knightmare frame which also killed the knight inside it.

An ursa major tried to charge through the britannians only for it to be impaled through the chest by a lance. "Only the strongest can survive this battle and I will be damned if we aren't the strongest," Captain Smith shouted as he distracted a deathstalker long enough for three of his fellow knights to get close enough to impale and kill it.

"We are about to be overrun by the beowolves sir," one of Smith's knights said as the grimm broke past them and towards the highway where a massive amount of civilians were trying to evacuate to a safe location. "Get out of the streets now!" Captain Smith ordered as he noticed a certain large Knightmare Frame floating in the air above the streets.

Not realizing that their armored opponents had abandoned the fight, the grimm continued to surge forward and were only stopped by a giant red and black beam of hadron energy. "Street swept, moving to next sector," Anya said as she turned off the Mordred's Stark Hadron Cannon. The only things left of the grimm that Captain Smith was fighting were their melted remains that were already disenegrating as the knights moved past them.

"Thank you for the support Lady Alstreim, we will now continue with the mission to assist the huntresses," Captain Smith said as the Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg, flew overhead in the Tristan. When Gino landed in the same area as team RWBY, the Tristan decapitated the head of the King Taiju that was sticking out of the ground before sweeping away a large number of grimm with his MVS halberd.

"Hey your boyfriend is here Yang," Ruby teased as her older sister blasted an ursa away. "Just because I was flirting with him at the dance doesn't mean we are dating," Yang countered as three bullheads from Beacon Academy started to land in an area cleared by the Tristan.

"Your highness I am sorry but you are in no condition to be allowed off of this transport. There are too many grimm in the area and I can't follow both the protocols to keep you safe and defeat the grimm. Please forgive me Lelouch." Aigis said as she prevented Lelouch from leaving the bullhead that transported her, Lelouch, and Kallen to the battlefield.

"I would hate to make you worry and make sure you help Coco and the others when they ask for it." Lelouch ordered as he walked to the front where the pilot was and ordered him to stay off the ground but close enough to where Lelouch could watch and give orders.

Team JNPR and CFVY also joined the battle after each of the teams exited one of the transports. "Hey Jaune look, we get to see your sister in combat," Nora said only for Jaune to facepalm himself and chew her out about how Aigis isn't one of his sisters. Team CFVY was massacring any and every grimm they came across while team JNPR was moving to provide support for team RWBY.

"Took you guys long enough. How bad was traffic?" Yang joked once team JNPR ran over to where the rest of team RWBY was. "Atlas tried to prevent bullheads from leaving the school to assist the Britannians. Lelouch had to pull a call in support from Cornelia. Suzaku, Gino and that Anya girl were already gone in their Knightmare Frames by the time we reached the landing pads." Jaune explained as the Lancelot wheeled past where everyone was fighting and after a pack of grimm that were moving towards a large hotel.

"I remember Princess Cornelia saying that she purchased a room in that hotel for Princess Euphiemia to reside in for the Vytal Festival since Cornelia wanted to keep Euphiemia safe in case of a terrorist attack on the Britannain Residence or one of the airships." Aigis explained before any of the others could ask where Suzaku was going. "Cornelia probably ordered Suzaku to assist in making sure the princess was safe from the Grimm."

Yang decided to try and take out some grimm by using a creep as a springboard to fly into the air only to knocked out of it by a flock of nevermores. Gino realized quickly realized that Yang was falling out of the sky and managed to save her before she crashed into the ground. "I was hoping we would get the chance to catch up later but now will do," Gino joked only for Yang to give a slight smirk at the knight's pun.

While the teens were holding back the main source of Grimm in the area, Suzaku was indeed heading to the hotel where a large number of people, including Princess Euphiemia, had not evacuated yet. Suzaku used the slash harkens on the Lancelot to kill a few of the larger grimm before pulling out the twin MVS swords and started to slice apart the remaining Grimm that were trying to storm the skyscraper.

Aigis had just used her semblance to summon her cannon to blow up a small pack of Beowolves when Atlas finally decided to join in the saving of Vale. Britannia had already deployed over two thirds of the Knightmares when the first of the Alesian Knights dropped from their ships.

 _So you wait until we have the situation under control to assist and you will probably try and steal the glory of the defense too,_ Lelouch thought to himself as he continued to provide tactical support for those on the ground after Coco shredded the small flock of nevermores that knocked Yang out of the sky. _I am glad I had Aigis create a copy of the minigun for her to use._

Kallen blew up an ursa major with her radiant wave surger as the Knight of Five finally arrived on the battlefield. Sir Sterling used his semblance, which he called the Very Accurate Targeting Semblance, or V.A.T.S., to headshot four beowolves and damage the stinger on a deathstalker before having to holster and draw the other pistol. "I am glad you made it off the train in one piece Blake," the knight said as he killed two creeps that were trying to flank his daughter.

"I am still suspicious of your claims but I guess you earned a little trust after warning the Britannians of the train, if that was even you that gave the warning." Blake stated as she shot past the knight and killed a beowolf. "That was a good shot but you could still use a little training. Maybe after we can get a chance to reconcile, I might be able to get you an upgrade to your weapon's firepower," Sterling stated as he holstered his revolver and reached for a third gun behind his back that was different from the revolvers.

Instead of a revolver like his twin weapons, there was what looked like a miniature assault rifle with dual drum magazines that the knight wielded one handed. "I picked this gun up off a very difficult bounty I had that wasn't paying very much. I thought there were multiple machineguns firing at me until I figured out it was just this gun which never seems to run out of ammo. Since I got the job while hunting a man who committed treason against Charles so I renamed the weapon 'the enforcer' after the job was over." the knight said as he pointed the gun at a large hoard of grimm heading towards him and his daughter and just opened fire.

Ruby watched as the massive amount of bullets that flew out of The Enforcer's barrel and shredded the Grimm with ease she never saw before. The bullets ripped pierced through the grimm and tore them apart. Beowolf claws flew into the faces of creeps while chunks of ursa fell on top of obliterated boarbatusks. _I am going to have to get me one of those guns when I graduate or at least figure out a way to make one._ Ruby thought after the Knight of Five put the gun away.

"This is so far the only copy of this gun I have ever encountered or heard of. Many have tried to replicate it and all have died by it." Sterling told his daughter who triedto process the massacre of grimm she just witnessed. _So the Knights of the Round aren't just dangerous in the knightmares,_ Blake realized as an ursa major tried to sneak up on the duo. "Get away from her!" Sun shouted as he slammed his staff into the grimm's head and then blasted it in the face several times with the shotgun blasts of his staff.

"Sun where have you been?" Blake asked after the monkey faunus saved her.

"Traffic was bad and Neptune guided us down the wrong street and into a blockade to keep civilans away from the grimm though that didn't stop them from preventing hunters as well." Sun said as he got back to back with Blake and fended off the grimm whose numbers were drastically depleting thanks to a mixture of britannian military capabilities, Atlesian knights/air support, and hunters in training.

 _I pray this isn't a love interest for my daughter,_ Sterling thought as he got a good look at Sun. _He did help protect her but he seems like the mischievous and rebellious type._ "Let's just say I owe you one now," the Knight of Five said as he assisted his daughter and the monkey faunus in fending off the grimm around them.

"Well that seems to be the last of them Lulu," Coco said over her earpiece to her old friend as she smashed her purse into a boarbatusk. "Everything I going just as planned with the calvary arriving on time." The prince noted as the reinforcements from outside Vale's borders finally arrived and launched a bombardment on the remaining clusters of grimm. "Do a sweep around the city where the grimm were, I want to confirm that the grimm here have been defeated." Lelouch ordered the pilot before sending the all clear signal to Cornelia.

"Area is cleared of hostile combatants," Aigis reported as Ruby and Yang hugged each other in happiness at the victory and Weiss just dropped to the ground in exhaustion of almost over using her semblance.

"I want to thank you for helping protect Blake back there. I know she can handle herself but she let her guard down when you came in." Sterling said as he approached Sun and placed an iron grip on the faunus' shoulder. "Um you're welcome sir I guess. My name is Sun Wukong and you are?" Sun asked as he struggled to release himself from the knight's grip. "I am Sir Samuel Sterling, Knight of Five."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sir Sterling," Sun said as he gave a look to blake that said 'how do you this guy and why does he care about you so much?'

Blake just shook her head and gave her fellow faunus a look that said 'I will tell you later when things calm down around here.'

While Sun was being acquainted with Blake's father, team JNPR was getting a second chance at making a good impression with the Ace of the Black Knights and the Guardian Angel of the 11th Prince.

"I wonder which is stronger: a blast from my hammer or your mortar?" Nora asked Aigis when team JNPR met up with the two from Britannia.

"My mortar is a specially designed 210mm selpropelled howlitzer which is designed to eliminate threats my machine guns can't. The mortar has a much more concentrated explosion than your hammer." Aigis replied as Nora elbowed her team leader. "I wonder if she has such a big cannon to compensate for having a brother like you Jaune." Jaune only groaned as Nora continued to tease him.

"Actually I have a sister that will be competing in the tournament. I am unaware if you know of her but her name is Metis." Aigis said Metis' name with such joy that it couldn't stop the shiver that ran down Nora's spine as she heard the name of a ghost from long ago.

Realizing that an odd subject has begun, Pyrrha quickly changed the subject to a different topic. "That was some pretty impressive acrobats you accomplished during the battle Aigis." The iron maiden just looked at her before imitating what she has seen some soldiers do when complimented on their physical feats: she flexed her arm as if showing off her nonexistent muscles. "I take proper measures to ensure maximum performance in my joints. If I am not performing at maximum capacity, I cannot ensure the highest amount of protection for my Master."

"I have been training Jaune to be a better fighter and maybe you can stop by and help out some time." Pyrrha said inviting the girl to help and Aigis just nodded in agreement.

"So that was a pretty hot weapon you had there Kallen, it is almost as hot as you," Jaune flirted only for Kallen to grab his face with the radiant wave surger and started to charge up energy. "Do you want to see how hot it can get?" Kallen asked annoyed with the blonde's flirting. Pyrrha mechanically reacted to Kallen's move and Jaune's muffled screams by grabbing her weapon and placing the spear tip at her fellow redhead's jugular. "You strike then I kill," Pyrrha stoically stated with dead serious eyes.

"Sorry about that, I already have someone my eyes are on but I doubt he will ever notice so I tend to react negatively when someone tries to flirt with me." Kallen apologized as she folder her weapon up to where it was just a glover on her hand that was on Jaune's head. "Sorry for the fright," Kallen said as she rubbed the top of the frightened boy's head.

Jaune's life had flashed before his eyes when he saw the energy charge up within the Radiant wave surger and only one thought appeared: _man my life has been boring._

Even though tensions were high between the redheads after Kallen's stunt, team JNPR and the two girls were actually starting to get along well enough to exchange contact information.

Everyone else besides those six were either getting medical attention from the injuries the grimm gave them, resting after being exhausted, or were getting to know those that were fighting alongside them. "So is dinner on me next week?" Gino joked as he and Yang stood outside the destroyed restaurant they agreed to meet up at during the dance.

"Well I guess we will have to settle for another place unless you know how to cook a high quality meal," Yang said as she nugged the knight of three. "I have been having to cook for Anya for well over a year now and I know I can make a mean bowl of soup." Gino joked which actually made Yang laugh.

"Alright I guess I will see you next week for dinner. Just ask around Beacon for team JNPR's dorm when you want to pick me up." Yang stated before Ruby shouted for her to come on over to where the younger sister stood.

"See you then," Gino stated as he walked back to where the Tristan stood and took it back to the HMAS Clarent.

 _Glad to see everything is returning to normal though I hope people don't become to panicky following what transpired today._ The Knight of Three thought as the Tristan floated up into the air.

* * *

 **One Week Later**

 **Pendragon Palace, Pendragon**

The final report of what had happened the last week in Vale had finally reached Charles during his meeting with one of the cardinals of the Church of Geass. Even though the Emperor was traditionally an honorary head of the church, Charles actually wielded great power within the organization. His word was treated like law and his speeches have even been added as dogma sometimes.

After hearing of the order Cornelia gave about saving nonbritannians, several of the cardinals, including the one present before Charles, thought that Cornelia is not loyal enough to the church and she might not be capable of fulfilling her duties as the head of the delegation.

"I speak for myself and the other cardinals when I say that Cornelia is not fit to lead the party that is to represent the empire during the Vytal Festival," the Cardinal of Area 11 said before Charles motioned for him to rise up from his kneeling position.

"I am aware of your concerns that Cornelia ordered her soldiers to help defend the locals but I doubt it truly would have changed the chain of events that would have occurred." The emperor said as he looked down at one of the head cardinals.

"Her actions were in complete defiance of the Church's teaching of absolute natural law where the strong survive and the weak die but the law can be broken when the strong makes the weak surivive where they shouldn't. Your second eldest daughter violate the most sacred of the Church's teachings: Survival of the Fittest." The cardinal explained to the emperor.

"So what of it Cardnial Gaeibleu? Do you think I will be one of the weak by cowering to the demands of the Church? I am the stronger one here and you only have your position because of your useful artificially enhanced semblance." Charles boomed as the much younger church official took a step back in response.

"But after hearing the cardinals' concern, and the latest development in Vale, I have decided that Cornelia is no longer completely capable of handling all her duties as the head of the delegation. I am sending Schneizel to command the delegation while placing Cornelia in charge of the security duties given to the empire by the Council of Vale." Charles stated as he rose from the throne.

"Soon the mission I have given my children will come to fruition and we will take back what the weak stole from us. I am giving you the order to travel to Vale and represent the Church of Geass. I also have spy by the name of Rolo Haliburton that hasn't reported any information since his deployment. I am ordering you to fulfill your duties as both a cardinal and as one of the leaders of the Heretic Trial Division of the church." The emperor ordered upon sitting back down on his throne.

"There is a small box that is to be delievered to Lelouch as soon as you meet him. It is one of the church's treasures and will be instrumental in the completion of the plan." Charles said as he gave the cardinal one last order.

"Of course your holiness, as a cardinal of the Church of Geass, I Rolo Gaeibleu will complete the tasks you have given me." Cardinal Rolo said as he left the throne room to get a flight to Vale.

 _In all honesty, I only really need one of the two Rolo's to return. The other can die for all I care,_ Charles thought after the cardinal left the throne room.

* * *

 **HMAS Clarent, Vale**

When news reached the admiral about the coming arrival of Cardnial Rolo Gaeibleu, the entirety of the crew of the Clarent started to move nervously as if an invisible grimm was stalking them. "Isn't this the same cardinal that sent an entire squadron of knights and a member of royalty to be burnt on the stake for their 'heretic' actions?" One of the technicians asked another as they marched past Lelouch and bowed.

Lelouch hadn't been informed of the impending arrival. He finally figured something was up when he walked into the hangar and noticed two ships when there was only supposed to be one schedule for arrival as far as he knew. _Ok so that is the ship that Coco and Velvet but who is on the other ship?_ Lelouch thought as the two girls walked towards him and a ramp was lowered from the other ship.

All it took was for Lelouch to see the start of the black coat and saw the logo of Area 11 for him to start internally screaming enough profanities that it would have given Nunally and Ruby a heart attack if they could have read his mind. _Of all the cardinals and minions of my father, why the hell did he send him?_ Lelouch thought as he finished his internal screaming.

Coco was confused as to the angered expression on Lelouch's face until she turned around and saw the cardinal. _Out of everyone in the Holy BritannianEmpire, that damn bastard had to be one of the members of the delegation?_

"It is nice to see you again Prince Lelouch. I came to say hello before going about my assigned duties," the cardinal said as he approached the prince and the girls. The first thing that Velvet noticed about the newcomer was that he looked almost completely identical to Lelouch. "I wasn't aware you had a twin brother Lelouch," the rabbit faunus nervously said as she cowered behind Coco once the cardinal's gaze landed on the faunus.

"Supposedly there is a statistic that there are around eight or so people in the world that look almost completely identical to you. He was discovered to be one for me and the royal family took him in for security reasons. They had surgery performed on him to make us look even more alike though his features are sharper, his voice is slightly higher pitched and his eyes are more on the blue side than the violet side. The differences were hidden for a short while but over time people started to point out the differences enough that he was deemed a failure. After he was deemed a failure, the royal family had more surgery done on him and eventually disposed of him to the Church of Geass where he quickly rose through the ranks." Lelouch explained while the cardinal had an obviously fake grin on his face.

"A friend of the pious Lady Adel is a friend of mine," Rolo Gaeibleu said as he reached for Velvet's hand only for her to move even further away from him. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Rolo Gaeibleu. I am a Cardinal of the Church of Geass, specifically from Area 11 and the Heretic Trial Division." Rolo said introducing himself to the faunus.

Velvet remembered some of the stories of what the Heretic Trial Division, better known as the inquisition, has done in the past. _So this guy is part of the group that sentenced an entire family to execution for supposedly heretic practices? They sound more like a secret police than a church to me._

After Rolo introduced himself, he and Lelouch started to have a silent conversation with one another. 'These two girls are incredibly beautiful and it would be a shame if something was to happen to either one for some reason,' Rolo silently said with mischievious eyes only for Lelouch to glare right back at him. 'Rolo if you lay a single finger on either of them I will have you burnt at the same stake you love to burn people at and then have Anya fire the Stark Hadron Cannon at you to ensure your death.'

"Well I have to go discuss something with Cornelia before Schneizel's arrival in a few days but your father wanted me to give you this," Rolo said as he handed a small package to Lelouch and continued on his way out of the hangar.

As Cardinal Rolo was walking away, Velvet noticed that the clergyman had a large staff strapped to his back with what looked like spear point at one end and three pairs of decorative wings/spike things on the other end with the last pair being attacked to a sphere. _Why would a cardinal need a weapon like that?_

After Cardinal Rolo left the hangar, Lelouch punched the nearest thing he could punch, unfortunately this happened to be a steel wall and the prince nearly broke his hand in the punch. "Lelouch I want to punch that bastard as much as you do if what you told me about him is true but even you should know that with the amount of Aura you have it's stupid to punch a wall, much less a steel wall." Coco said chastising her old friend.

"So why do you two hate him so much?" Velvet asked curious as to what they had against him. "He schemes just as much as the rest of the royal family and nearly had Lelouch killed multiple times. The first time was when he was still serving as a body double for Lelouch and he tried to kill him and Nunally in a single accident so that he would be able to take Lelouch's spot in the royal family. The second time was after the last cardinal of Area 11 was replaced by him and Rolo tried to charge Lelouch with heretical charges only for it to fail when Lelouch managed to counter the accusation." Coco explained as she tried to help one of the medical personnel with Lelouch's injury.

"He tried to create a kangaroo court to separate me and Nunally so he could burn her at the stake though I quickly managed to get the charges dropped before they could get their hands on her. After that incident I have had Nunally moved around multiple times so that the bastard couldn't try and get his hands on her again." Lelouch said after the medical personnel left having finished bandaging the prince's hand.

"Now there are rumors that since he became one of the leaders of the inquisition, he has had many people executed and even had his own semblance surgically enchanced to serve the emperor even further. The project that did this was deemed a failure after it failed when applied to the royal family," Lelouch explained as he started to take the two girls towards the observation deck. _I need to find a way to have him killed quickly because it will be easier and less messy if he is killed over here than if he was killed back in Area 11._

"Sorry about the incident back in the hangar, this is why I invited you two on board the Clarent," Lelouch said as he opened the door to the Clarent's observation deck which allowed the two huntresses a wonderful view of the city below despite the dozen or so caerleons floating above the city while Ironwood was reduced down to a fragment of his fleet.

While the girls were distracted by the view, Lelouch reached for the box Rolo gave him and opened it up. Lelouch quickly closed and hid the box after seeing that the only thing inside was what looked like a pair of contact lens. _If Father sent me this relic from the church, he must have too much trust in my capabilities to fulfill his plan for the Festival,_ Lelouch thought as he internally made changes in his own plan to accommodate his newest asset.

* * *

 **Cinder's Room, Beacon Academy**

"So it seems like our plan with the virus has failed and we have officially lost Torchwick," Emerald complained as she pointed out several places where Cinder's plan has fallen apart.

"Don't worry about that, they are just minor setbacks and we will have only had the plan damaged slightly. It's not unrepairable but it will take some time to ensure things are back to normal." Cinder said as she continued to sew one of her disguises.

"So what do you have planned for the Britannian security? Atlas was one thing but these guys are more prone to shot first question orders later. I remember hearing how these guys were more than willing to execute entire sections of the different areas in the empire just because the emperor or another royal ordered it. I wouldn't be surprised if a royal suddenly got angry and decided to have his or her soldiers become trigger happy and do some population control." Mercury stated as he kicked around a soccer ball in the room.

"I will take care of bypassing their security but we have two assets that will prove to be very useful with this new development." Cinder said as Neo entered the room and Cinder's two accomplices were suddenly reminded of the fact that Adam was in charge of the White Fang now.

"So do we have any plans for getting Torchwick back under our control? I hate the guy but even I can see that he was a powerful ally." Emerald asked as memories of her turning Torchwick over to the Atlesians came back to her head.

"Atlas was able to keep part of their airfleet consisting mostly of the command ship and about two to four of the smaller airships. They were only able to keep this much because have Torchwick under arrest thanks to us. He would have been killed on the spot if handed over to the Britannians so we can rescue him later. Don't think the temporary absence of the terrorist means that I no longer have a use for him because there are many ways I can still use his services." Cinder explained as Neo stood infront of a mirror and switched between multiple disguises before settling on the one that she will use for the Vytal Festival.

"Whatever you have planned, you need to enact it fast because I have already seen Pishyakan and Sterling walking around and it is only a matter of time before they start trying to sniff us out. I really don't want to be hunted by the Knight of Five or the Marchioness of Area 3." Mercury said as he juggled the soccer ball with his feet.

"Don't worry about them. They will be dealt with in due time and everything else is already starting to but in place for our victory." Cinder assured him as she finished sewing the new outfit and disguise for herself. _Soon everything will be in place for me to complete my victory and no one will be able to steal it from me, not even the royal family._

* * *

 **So there you have it, the Arrival Arc is over and the Vytal Festival Arc will be starting soon. I tried to get this chapter out before Christmas so that I can give it to the readers as a present.**

 **Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu is supposed to be based off of Cardinal Rolo vi Britannia from the Nightmare of Nunally manga with a few changes here or there. Gaeibleu if separated out into Gaei and Bleu means Blue Jay in French. The decision to give Cardinal Rolo this name comes from the fact that Lelouch's disguise's last name of Lamperouge from Canon means red light in French so I gave his look alike another French last name instead of Lamperouge or Vi Britannia like in the manga. We will have to wait and see what happens when Cardinal Rolo meets the assassin Rolo and if they will be allies or enemies.**

 **I need the Britannains to be in charge of the security of Vale in this story for plot reasons and Atlas' fleet is still partially present for the same reason. Cornelia is no longer in charge of the Britannians but rather Schneizel is in charge. This doesn't mean Lelouch or the two Rolo's won't be acting according to their own agendas behind the prime minister's back. Cornelia isn't out of the picture but rather she is in charge of security rather than everything. Let's hope Mercury is wrong about the potential for a massacre being ordered in the city by one of the royals. Also despite most of the delegation's Knightmare frames consisting of Sutherlands and Gloucesters, Schneizel will be bringing more when he makes his first physical appearance in Vale that isn't through a scroll call.**

 **So this chapter will be over with fewer words than the last two but we will make due with what we got. Well this is Bylackbre signing off and wishing you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.**


	8. Festivals and Assassinations

**Hey guys it's Bylackbre with the newest chapter in the story. I hope you all had a good New Year since one of the first things I am doing with the New Year is to start a new arc in the story for you guys. Since this new arc comes out close to the start of the New Year I guess I should let you know that a new era is on the horizon that could spell trouble for everyone including the ones who organized it. But anyway let's get the Vytal Festival started.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Code Geass**

* * *

 **HMAS Clarent, Over the City of Vale**

Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu was walking on the catwalk in a cavernous section of the airship when the airship suddenly shook with a powerful force. While such instances of turbulence were usually uncommon in airships made in all of the kingdoms, the Clarent had a few bugs in her experimental Dust/Sakuradite hybrid power core that allowed such a large aircraft to float in the air. Most are minor problems that would be fixed shortly after discovery though a persistent problem was how turbulence can sometimes make the engine temporarily switch off before restarting less than a second later with the turbulence being the only sign of a problem.

Cardinal Rolo was almost knocked over the railing in the latest incident almost leading him to have an untimely death. _Lelouch or the admiral need to see to it that the malfunction is complete before it kills someone._ As he recovered and started to continue down the walkway before another instance of turbulence rocked the airship. This time a grease covered engineer fell on top of the cardinal and covered his clothes in grease.

To say Rolo was angry would be an understatement, the engineer didn't even have a chance to apologize. The cardinal used his semblance to not only cover the unfortunate man in a layer of ice but the man's perception of time was also frozen in an illusion of sorts. In almost the blink of an eye, the cardinal grabbed his staff and drove the sharpened tip through the chest of the frozen engineer. After he pulled the staff out, Rolo placed a card that informed any reader that this man was killed for heretical actions, and the note was placed into the hole made by the staff. Pleased by the swiftness of the execution, Rolo gave a slight smile before kicking the frozen man off the catwalk and onto the ground several stories below.

A few technicians and soldiers were stunned when they saw the corpse suddenly shatter upon crashing onto the ground in front of them. One of the technicians walked over to the frozen chunks of human and read the note placed by the cardinal. "The Frozen Priest strikes again. This is the fourth one this week and it's only Tuesday," one of the soldiers complained as a notification was sent to the bridge of the death. "Just because he is a Cardinal and also leads the closest thing the Church has to an inquisition doesn't mean he should have the right to kill as he pleases."

"The Church of Geass preaches survival of the fittest because of what happened to the royal family but even that philosophy has been contested over time and interpreted in different ways. We haven't proven ourselves weak but it doesn't mean the Cardinal can kill us because he feels like it because he is a higher rank of us in the grand hierarchy." A solider noted as a sanitation worker came and started to clean the mess made by the thawing corpse.

Rolo had just reached the hangar when the mess made by his victim was finally cleaned up. A few minutes after entered the hangar, nearly all the personnel that were gathered bowed as the ramp of the newly arrived royal transport lowered. Rolo was one of the few people gathered that didn't bow before Schneizel as the prime minister made his first official appearance in Vale for the Vytal Festival. Following behind the Prime minister was a squad of OSI infiltration operatives who were serving as an honor guard of sorts before suddenly fizzling away from sight as if they weren't even there. _I loathe those damned boogeymen, I can never tell if one is watching me._ The Cardinal thought as the prime minister approached him.

"It is a shame that Cornelia went against the Church's teachings and forced his Holiness' hand into making her step down and you having to fulfill her failed duties," Rolo said as Prince Schneizel approached him. "It is indeed a shame that my sister, the chief general of the military and leader of the Britannian delegation, had to be punished by an organization that normally wouldn't have disciplinary jurisdiction over someone of her rank." Schneizel said as Rolo tried to hide the anger growing in him due to the prince's insult of the Church's authority.

"But as you were saying about my new duties as the head of this delegation, I am making a slight change of plans to how the final operation will be carried out. You will be playing a key part in the plan Cardinal Gaeibleu but there are a few tasks that you must deal with first before the endgame begins." Schneizel said as the hangar personnel returned to their work and the royal was walking away with the clergyman.

"My father has given me a speech you are to present to the world when the tournament begins since the emperor was starting to feel a little under the weather when I left the homeland. His Majesty will be watching from the homeland and wants you to do your job correctly or there might be a new job opening amongst the cardinals following your return to the homeland. I am also ordering you to execute Rolo Haliburton when you encounter him. He is a security risk for the operation and must be dealt with in the most efficient of ways so that a repeat of renegade operative who overstepped her boundaries." The Second Prince ordered as he passed an envelope with the speech to the cardinal.

"I will follow the authority bestowed upon you by the emperor to the letter. I understand the order regarding the other Rolo's execution since we are unable to completely confirm he hasn't had contact with the one who caused your asset to defect and go rouge." Cardinal Rolo said as the Prime minister left the Cardinal so that Schneizel could get adjusted to his temporary office. _Being amongst the living isn't a right, it's a privilege that can be taken much easier than it is earned. It seems that you have ordered this other Rolo to die but you must take heed that someone else doesn't decide you need your privilege taken from you._ Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu thought as he started his investigation of the whereabouts of Rolo Haliburton.

As the Cardinal was beginning his hunt, Lelouch was walking towards the office that was previously occupied by Cornelia but now would serve as Schneizel's. The Prime minister personally opened the door when the younger prince knocked on the door. "I am glad you were able to meet me in this new office of mine." The Second Prince said with a smile that only those within the royal family could tell was hiding something.

"We never did finish our chess game when you last visited Area 11," Lelouch said as he walked inside and took the seat on the other side of Schneizel's desk from where the elder of the brothers would be sitting. "You're right Lelouch, we will have to finish that once the Festival is over. I want to make sure that you are completely aware of what your responsibilities are during our stay here in Vale."

"Officially I am helping supervise the combatants from the homeland as well as serve as your second in command of the delegation. Unofficially I am still searching for multiple alternative routes to the subterranean levels of Beacon Academy as well as a diversion to set off for when you start the final operation. Zero has already confirmed the presence of your failure but was unable to pinpoint her base of operations. If she was clever then she would hide in plain sight in the crowd during the games since it would cause a major incident if you tried to apprehend her during the match upon identifying her." Lelouch listed off but left out his own countermeasures for when the ball starts to roll for the implementation of the Royals' master plan.

"I am glad to see that you are keeping busy Lelouch. If the goal we are striving to achieve wasn't so dire, I would have suggested that you treat this more as a vacation from the homeland than an operation." Schneizel said with a smile that even Lelouch couldn't tell was serious or fake. "You deserve a vacation after all the work you have done lately both here and in the homeland. When we are finished here in Vale, I can assure you a vacation worthy of your services."

 _If what you have planned fails or if the main objective of my plan succeeds, then I will be forced into a permanent 'vacation' away from Area 11._ "As always your generosity is without rival Schneizel but I am going to have to decline. When we are finished here, I am going to where Nunally is currently staying and seeing if I can find her a new place to call home in case someone comes after me in retaliation." Lelouch told his older brother.

"If you change your mind please let me know. Now how about a game of chess?" Schneizel said as he pulled out a chess set and began to set the board up on the desk.

"Well everyone else I have played against hasn't given me much of a challenge like you can. One game won't hurt." Lelouch said as Schneizel started to place the black pieces in front of Lelouch. "So you will take the white king while I take black like usual?" Lelouch questioned his older half sibling after both sides of the board were set up.

"Indeed and let the games begin." The Prime Minister said as he and his brother began a clash of kings.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

Cardin Winchester's day was going okay though the events that were about to transpire would permanently change his opinion of the day. As he was rounding the corner of the hallway with Dove following right behind him, before being slammed in the chest by a young brown haired boy who wasn't looking where he was going.

"Look where you are going you little punk," Cardin growled as the younger boy looked up at him violet eyes. Cardin was about to lift the boy off the ground and punch him but the shorter boy suddenly disappeared and a tremendously sharp pain in his gut and Dove bleeding on the ground from a gunshot wound.

 _What just happened?_ Cardin thought as his legs gave out from underneath him and he noticed the large slash on his chest that he was bleeding from. Glynda rushed around the corner to get the two boys to the infirmary when Cardin collapsed and fell unconscious.

"Clear out of the nurse's way NOW!" Glynda screamed out to the gathered students before using weapon to telepathically shove the students against the wall so that the medical personnel could reach the injured students. Despite Glynda's efforts to clear out the students, many of them were trying to explain what they thought happened or what they could have heard though each story was different from the last.

"You all need to go to your classes now and if you belong in my class then you are to go to the cafeteria until I come to release you." Glynda ordered as the two injured students were being moved to the infirmary.

The students scattered in near record time and Glynda rushed to catch up with the infirmary crew. "The gunshots that were heard seem to be what caused Dove's injuries." The head nurse said as she and a few other personnel were working on preparing the hunter in training for surgery. "He was shot enough times to deplete his aura though the last bit of it managed to prevent the final bullet from instantly killing him."

"What of Mr. Winchester?" the teacher asked as Dove was moved to the operating room.

"It was just a single slash to his body that caused the injury but his aura was completely destroyed in the attack as well. I have seen many injuries and wounds in my life but very few materials exist that can break someone's aura as easily as this." One of the personnel explained to Professor Goodwitch as he and another worker started to set things up to clean Cardin's injury and stitch him up.

"What happened here?" Ozpin asked as he casually strolled into the infirmary after hearing word of what happened in the hallway just recently.

"We have no idea about what happened before and during the attack but after a few gunshots were heard that wasn't coming from one of the training facilities, students started to investigate. Apparently someone shot and cut up half of team CRDL though the perpetrator is still unknown." Glynda started to explain to her superior. "I talked with one of the personnel here and the weapon that struck Mr. Winchester has to be made of material that can go through a person's aura. They either have a teleportation device or a semblance that allows them to move undetected quickly since nobody noticed the attack at first or saw who the attacker was afterwards."

"I will contact James and the Britannians to see if they have any ideas as to whose weapon was responsible though we have to try our hardest to keep everyone's moods up before the Vytal Festival begins in a few days so that the students aren't overly paranoid about being the next victim." Ozpin said as he reached for his scroll to send a few messages.

"I am aware of Mr. Winchester's history of bullying his classmates and pulling his team in on the bullying. Yjis attack cold be a victim getting revenge but I highly doubt that since the two victims that I am aware of him focusing mostly on uses and antique sword and shield combo while the girl uses martial arts and whatever is in her box to attack."

"Jaune Arc is most definitely innocent and Ms. Scarlatina wouldn't have struck back against her attackers. What is more troubling is that a potential competitor in the tournament has a weapon that can break through someone's aura in a single strike. If such a weapon is used in the Festival, who is to say we won't have cases worse than these two in the coming days?" Ozpin noted as what sounded like metal boots were marching down the hallway towards the infirmary,

Just as the headmaster was turning to face the entrance, the large double doors opened up and four Britannian soldiers followed a blue uniformed officer into the infirmary. "I am the commander of the garrison Lord Schneizel has placed in Beacon Academy. You may call me Colonel Locke." The officer said introducing himself to the headmaster as two of the soldiers positioned themselves outside the doors to stand guard.

"It's an honor to make your acquantice Colonel but we have everything under control here and do not require the Britannian security like the rest of the city and the Festival." Ozpin said only for the Colonel to shake his head.

"It appears you are overestimating your own sense of security Headmaster. When the gunshots were heard by one of my men, we came as quickly as we could to prevent additional attacks. It isn't uncommon for killers to come after their victims if they survive so I am placing a twenty four hour guard outside the infirmary as well as patrols to walk around campus in case a copy cat attacker or the original strikes again, we can try and stop it." The Colonel explained to the two administrators as he did a quick scan of the room.

"I will order my men to stay here for now and I want you to deliver a full report of what happened here to me so that I may transmit it to Lord Schneizel and Cardinal Gaeibleu for investigation," The Colonel ordered the headmaster before leaving with two of the soldiers following behind him out.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate those military types?" Glynda complained after the soldiers left the room.

"You haven't stopped telling me since James first arrived," Ozpin answered as one of the infirmary staff members walked towards the two to explain that Cardin's injury has been cleaned and stitched up. Cardin will be unable to initiate in combat for at a few weeks before he is fully healed. "Sorry to tell you Ozpin but unless team CRDL gets a bye or their first opponents forfeit, the team will be disqualified for being unable to compete at the four on four round."

 _Well this will be a problem that I can't really afford to be distracted by._ Ozpin thought to himself as he headed back to his office. Glynda stayed behind so she could have a report to give Ozpin once Dove was out of surgery.

* * *

 **Ozpin's Office, Beacon Academy**

When the elevator doors to the headmaster's office opened, Ozpin realized that his office wasn't empty. Standing up from a chair he was previously seated in was Prime Minister Schneizel el Britannia.

"It is an honor to finally make your acquaintance Headmaster Ozpin," the younger prime minister said while extending his hand for a handshake.

"I was unaware that you have already arrived in Vale," Ozpin stated as he not only refused the handshake but also sat behind his desk in the weird shaped chair Schneizel took note of earlier.

"I usually keep my travel schedule classified in case of a terrorist attack on the airship I am riding in but after the incident involving the White Fang train, I thought it was best for me to take over after my sister was removed of her position. Additionally I thought it would mutually benefit it us both if we met each other in person as soon as I arrived rather when an incident involving one of my people or a security problem arose though it seems I was too slow." Schneizel said as the headmaster tried to understand what ulterior motive the prince might actually have.

"Yes it was unfortunate what happened to team CRDL but a solution is being sorted out right now." Ozpin said as the prince reached for something inside of the briefcase that sat beside his chair.

"The third Britannain team will be dropping out of the tournament in light of this incident one of our own sadly caused." Schneizel said as he placed an folder with the words CLASSIFIED and OSI EYES ONLY stamped on the front. "An assassin we trained has gone rouge and isn't reporting to his handlers. We fear he might use his training and equipment to stage an assassination on one of the royals or someone from another kingdom. When I was informed that the former Cardinal of Area 11's grandson was attacked in a way that was almost identical to his M.O., I ordered the new Cardinal of Area 11, Rolo Gaeibleu, as well as my younger brother Lelouch to hunt this terrorist down at all cost." Schneizel said hoping it would serve as a good enough excuse for the two to snoop around Beacon Academy without resistance.

"Might I ask who were part of the team that wouldn't be participating was?" Ozpin said as he read through Rolo Haliburton's file.

"The team was led by my personal knight, Labrys, two special forces operatives, and someone who worked for the Marchioness who is notiorious for wielding a heavy machinegun and a special blast shield," Schneizel explained as he picked up the file Ozpin finished reading.

"Well it looks like they would have made for part of an interesting match. What will they be doing now instead of competing in the festival?"

"The soldiers will be providing security for the other Royals that will be arriving before the festival begins. Labrys will be serving as my bodyguard as well as assisting the Knight of Five in dealing with security issues. The fourth member will be doing whatever the Marchioness orders him to do thogh I could care less about what he does." The prime minister revealed as he sat back down in his chair.

"If I remember correctly from before Britannia started to refuse participating in the Vytal Festival, Labrys and Aigis were both competitors using specially made Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons. I have had them looked into since then and they weren't using weapons but rather they were the weapons weren't they?" Ozpin questioned hoping to get a surprised reaction out of the prince but who only shrugged in response.

"That is true that those girls did compete in the festival many years ago, there are very few who have realized the truth. Most were built to be used as weapons, but there are a few whose purpose is more complicated than that and are therefore more versatile. Aigis, Labrys, and Aigis' twin Metis are all examples of these special purpose AGSW but that is all you need to know for now." Schneizel said as he started to rise from his seat.

"I will allow them to compete but if you dare use them as weapons against the students outside the matches, I will make you deeply regret it and remind you what I did all those years ago." The headmaster glared at the younger man as he said this with such ferocity that would have surprised Glynda if she was present.

"Don't worry about that happening, I won't betray your trust like that. Also tell Amber that she is welcome for the help I provided her." Schneizel said as he left making the headmaster internally tremble at the realization that the prime minister knew what was in Beacon's basement.

 _If he knows about Amber, then what exactly is the Royal Family planning this time around?_ The headmaster of Beacon Academy wondered as he turned around in his chair and gazed out of the large glass windows.

* * *

 **Streets of Vale, Vale**

Despite the large amount of airships belonging to the Holy Britannian Empire and Atlas, everyone was acting relatively normal since the train incident. Amongst those that were enjoying the calm before the storm that would be the Vytal Festival were two knight of the round and a certain brown haired boy.

"Come on Suzaku, cheer up a bit. Sure Lloyd was angry that a few beowolves managed to scratch up the Lancelot's paintjob but at least you were safe and not grimm treats." Gino said placing a hand on the knight's shoulder.

Sure Suzaku wasn't a Knight of the Round but that didn't mean he wasn't friends with Gino and Anya. He met the two knights while at a party hosted for Lloyd. They were both Knights of the round at the time and Suzaku had just been recruited by Lloyd as the devicer of the Lancelot. One thing led to another after Suzaku and Gino almost got into a duel that caused the trio to become good friends.

"I know but Cecile and Mariel are stuck back at the trailer with Lloyd and he is still ranting about how his precious got scratched because of my carelessness." Suzaku said as he kicked a rock down the street.

"Heh maybe you should take Mariel to one of the nice restaurants around here to get her mind, as well as your mind, off of work? Coco said A Simple Wok is a good place to get a quick bite to eat." Gino then elbowed the younger and lower ranked knight in the side as if trying to give him a hint on who to hit on.

"Your track record for being a matchmaker for others, including yourself, has been three successes and eighty seven failures." Anya deadpanned as she raised her scroll and pulled up several pictures of a rejected Gino and sometimes one that was slapped or kicked in the groin. "Maybe you shouldn't be the one to give potential dating advice to Suzaku or Jaune."

Gino had a face that was a mixture of shame and something that couldn't exactly be described in response to Anya's remark. "I learned every trick I have ever employed from the greatest ladies' man in the homeland: Prince Clovis," Gino said with a grin only for Anya and Suzaku to groan and facepalm at the memory of Clovis' various attempts of flirting with the opposite sex.

"I think Lloyd would give you better advice in that area," Suzaku told his friend only to remember that Clovis was one of the few royals who wouldn't be attending the Vytal Festival this time. _It's odd that most of the royals such as Guinevere and Odysseus will be making an appearance but not Clovis or Cornelia after the Church had her removed from her position._

"Hey did you hear about what the Special Projects and Examinations Department recently did in their latest group sampling? They gathered a large group of people who recently accessed their semblances, including the children of a few nobles, and forced them to participate in the ongoing investigation concerning Semblances." Gino said only for Anya to pull up the article that was extremely vague about what he was talking about.

"I know what they are doing can be morally ambiguous at times but if they are successful in their findings, then the whole empire can benefit. The numbers and faunus will be able to benefit the same as the royals." Suzaku said idealistically only for Gino to internally shake his head. _Even though I try to be cheerful and happy all the time, even I have realized that such idealism is out of place in a society like ours Suzaku._

"I am just shocked that noble children were taken in for the research this time around. It will be a matter of time before they start taking people closer to the throne. I wonder if the impact the organization has on its members is why Lloyd chose you as a devicer?" Gino asked only for Suzaku to start glaring at the higher ranked knight in anger. "Lloyd runs CAMELOT which is part of the Special Research Division which is part of the military. The Special Projects and Examinations Department is a separate branch of the government that falls under one of the various ministries and is therefore governed by Prime Minister Schneizel just like a majority of the organizations created by the government." Suzaku said hoping it would serve as a good enough explanation to the Knight of Three.

"You didn't answer the part about Lloyd recruiting you."

"That is an answer for another day." Suzaku said as he bitterly walked ahead of the two members of the Knights of the Round with Gino having a perplexed expression and Anya taking a picture of the two male knights.

* * *

 **Rundown Part of the City of Vale, City of Vale**

If he didn't want to stand out in this part of the city, Rolo Gaeibleu was doing a horrible job. He was walking through a mostly abandoned part of town with his official cardinal robes on and his staff on his back. "I'll give him credit, he knows how to hide in a place he won't be noticed easily."

Cardinal Rolo noticed that the building the assassin was supposedly hiding in was barricaded with many wood planks being nailed to a doorway to prevent entry. "As if something like this could stop me in my path," the killer Cardinal said as he froze the barricade and blew it up with an electrical blast from the top end of the staff. He sarcastically knocked on the doorframe as he let himself in through the shattered door.

As he made his way upstairs where the assassin laid in wait, Cardinal Rolo froze every trap he sprung right before it would kill him. There was a section of the staircase that was missing several steps and was too large for him to jump. "You really made this hard for me didn't you?" The Cardinal sarcastically joked as he filled the missing section up with ice for him to continue on his path.

"I have a few questions for you Mr. Haliburton. Would you kindly surrender now and I can assure you that Schneizel won't execute you on the spot." Cardinal Gaeibleu ordered as he approached the door behind which the other Rolo was hiding.

Cardinal Gaeibleu barely had time to react when Rolo Haliburton shot at the door several times. Relying purely on reflexes, the Cardinal jumped out of the way and swung the staff into the door so that the door fell off its hinges.

Cardinal Rolo rushed into the room as the other Rolo was reloading but felt a familiar sensation. _So he is the defective original,_ the Cardinal thought as he countered Rolo's perception freezing semblance with his artificial semblance that was the same.

"This feeling I get from your semblance is the similar to the one I have when I freeze someone's perception before killing them. You must be the flawed originator of this power that the SPED copied. It's a shame they couldn't cure your heart condition that occurs when you use your semblance." The Cardinal said mockingly though oddly enough he was empathic and felt genuine sorrow at how the SPED couldn't fix him.

"I figured I could use this mission as a means to escape but they still found a way to turn me into a tool of the empire. They used a power that was supposed to be special only to me, and figured out a way to make it into a weapon used by others." Rolo Haliburton said as his semblance was canceled out by the synthetic copy used by Rolo Gaeibleu. "What you have wrong is that I am the only modified semblance user who survive having a copy of your semblance implanted into them," The cardinal stated as he swung his staff at the assassin.

Haliburton managed to jump out of the way but was hit by a strong electrical current that was shot out of the end that was not sharpened into a point. The assassin was launched across the room by the attack but his semblance allowed him to come out of the strike with nothing more than a bruise. Haliburton then tried using his semblance in a different way to counter the blocking effect of Gaeibleu's replica. Instead of outright stopping his target's perception of time, Haliburton greatly slowed down the target's perception but didn't actually stop it.

Gaeibleu fell for the trap but managed to intercept the assassin's knife allowing his hand to be impaled instead. Angered at the injury, Gaeibleu started to freeze the area around him and even made the assassin trip and ball onto his back. He avoided a few impalement attempts until he backed up against the wall. "I guess the prototype wasn't as good as the finished product."

Before Rolo Haliburton could put up much a defense, he was completely covered in ice that melted as fast as it appeared soaking the teen assassin in melted ice. "I almost forgot to introduce myself. I am Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu of the Church of Geass. You could say I am also one of the head inquisitors of the Order. Prince Schneizel el Britannia suspected you of being a potential heretic and a potential traitor to the empire. I simply cannot allow such a threat to live in this world."

Before the assassin could argue the case to let him live, Gaeibleu electrocuted the wet skin of the assassin with such a high voltage and effect that the boy was forced into a near death state. "By the power invested in me by the Church of Geass and the Heretic Trial Division, I sentence you for execution effective immediately." Gaeibleu said then swung as he froze the boy completely and then swung his staff like a sledgehammer. The assassin never stood a chance as his whole body shattered into numerous pieces before the frozen bits started to thaw.

"The potential traitor has been dealt with though I will need some medical attention when I get back to the Clarent. I will deal with the witnesses to Haliburton's accidental attack before they are discharged from the infirmary. To think that the only reason I found out where he had set up his base of operations was because he became sloppy after the incident." Rolo told the Prime Minister through his scroll before walking into the kitchen. To get rid of any evidence or traces that could lead to him specifically, Rolo rigged the microwave to start in about ten minutes after he placed a metal can full of silverware inside of it. Rolo did this after rigging the gas powered oven to start leaking gas into the area.

Rolo was already out of the building and was waiting for a britannian troop transport when the room Haliburton was staying in exploded setting the building on fire. "This surely sets things off with a bang," Rolo said to himself as the transport finally pulled up and a medic started to patch the hole where the knife blade went through his whole hand.

* * *

 **A Few Days Later**

 **Amity Colosseum, Above Vale**

Ruby was riding in one of the shuttles that belonged to the Vytal Festival Committee and was gazing out the windows as the shuttle approached the giant colosseum. _So those must be the supposed flight enabled Knightmare frames I have heard about,_ Ruby thought as a group of four flight enabled sutherlands flew alongside the shuttle as added security in case of an accident.

The flight enabled knightmares had just arrived a few days earlier when the prime minister also arrived. These models weren't as numerous as the empire had hoped due to the flight enabled models having to miniaturize the same technology that allowed the airships to fly in the sky. Lloyd, Cecile, and Rakshata were too busy with other tasks so the project was ultimately slowed down with progress only recently being made.

The four knightmares flew away from the shuttle once it was getting near the landing area so that the knightmares could escort more of the numerous shuttles transporting people to the arena.

When Ruby walked off the ramp that was lowered by the shuttle, she and the other passengers were approached by several Britannian soldiers. "I am the team leader of team RWBY, My name is Ruby Rose and I will be participating alongside my team in the Vytal Festival," Ruby explained to the guard who then looked at his scroll to confirm what she said.

"It looks clear to me," the soldier said as he waved her on by and directed her to where the rest of the students from Beacon Academy were being seated.

"What took you so long Rubes?" Yang asked as her younger sister finally sat down next to her in the special section marked off for Beacon Academy students who would be fighting in the tournament.

"I was with Dad visiting Mom before our match today and can you believe we will be one of the first teams to compete." Ruby said solemnly before getting really excited at what is going to happen.

"Well I for one am looking forward to showing these people what the members of the Schnee Family can do," Weiss said boastfully as Blake pulled out a pair of binoculars and started to look around the arena.

Blake noticed team SSSN all seated with the members of their school. Team CFVY was all seated together though Coco wasn't with them. Team JNPR was a few seats down from them though too far to start a conversation. In the box reserved specifically for the Britannian Royal Family, Blake finally noticed Coco standing next to Lelouch while it looked like Aigis was wearing her formal uniform while hugging a dark haired woman with a red and gold mask. _Who is that?_

"Blake are you jealous that the Royals get the large fish to eat during the tournament today?" Ruby asked the cat faunus which shocked her. "How do you know that? Don't tell me you can see the inside from here without binoculars can you?"

"Well since I haven't developed a good scope for Cresent Rose that doesn't knock it off balance when swinging. As a result, I had to work for a long time to be able to see at that distance. You can ask Yang about the period of time I went around wearing an eyepatch on one of my eyes before switching it to the other eye." Ruby joked as an announcer ordered everyone to quiet down and Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu walked to the center of the colosseum.

"Attention people of Remnant, My name is Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu of the Church of Geass. I am here today to deliever a speech to the combatants from his majesty, Emperor Charles zi Britannia." Rolo said before giving the speech given to him by Schneizel on behalf of the latter's father. Blake and Ruby both noticed that the clergyman's left gloved hand looked like it was thicker than the right as if he was hiding a bandaged hand within the glove.

"This tournament will be a testament to the two pillars of the Church of Geass, all men are not created equal and survival of the fittest. Not all the academies teach their students in the same way. Some focus more on teamwork and discipline while sometimes ignoring human nature. Others focus more on teaching their students to work indepently yet still together. We Britannians know that only through strength and order can someone prove themselves as the true victors of the tournament. These fights will prove who the fastest are, who the ones who possess the most strength are, and whose cunning will dominate the competition. Although the rules prohibit killing, you cannot allow morals to prohibit you from winning if given the chance." The Cardinal said as he tried to instill the sense of ruthlessness that is prevalent in Britannia into the hunters and huntresses in training.

"This tournament may be advertised as a competition to see which school produced the best students but don't let your schools lie to you. The Vytal Festival is nothing more than a battle royale between individuals grouped together into teams to see which of the individuals is the strongest. When you graduate from the academies, most of you will want to reject the reality that your teams will disband and some of you will either work for the kingdom, work for the military like so many of the Atlesians are doing nowadays, or simply go freelance. The lucky ones will survive the first few solo missions though many of you here today will be unable to. The victor of the final round will be the one proven most likely to live against the threat posed by grimm or terrorists. We Britannians have already shown the world that we will not cower to the Grimm threat and we are the most likely to be victorious against the other kingdoms thanks to our superior technology and training. With this we will prove that we are the most fit to survive in this world of bloody evolution and that we will rise against those who stand against us like always. With this in conclusion, the Vytal Festival shall begin." Cardinal Gaeibleu decreed as he concluded the speech and matched Charles' speech patterns exactly.

When the Cardinal left the arena, the first two teams to compete started to walk to the center of the arena to begin the first fight of the festival.

* * *

 **So the Vytal Festival has officially begun in this story. What exactly is Schneizel planning and who is the asset that betrayed him in the past? We will see what the Royal Family has in store for behind the scenes of the Vytal Festival. Team SMKA (smoke) will be participating in the team match while team GRAE won't be seen in combat until the doubles. The events of this chapter are the darkest of this arc until the end when the gambit roulette starts to rear its ugly head in the endgame. Originally I had it planned for Rolo Haliburton to be killed while attempting an assassination attempt on one of the main RWBY characters though I had a change of heart when I realized I gave myself a good excuse to kill him off earlier. So feel free to guess as to what will transpire in this arc as well as the future match ups since some fights might be against different teams. Well until then this is Bylackbre signing off as we begin the Vytal Festival Arc.**


	9. Clashes and Shadows

**Hey guys it's Bylackbre with the newest chapter in the story. So how many of you watched the newest episode of RWBY? I will admit the original ending I had for this arc a couple of months back was somewhat close to what transpired but is different. I will incorporate parts of what happened in the most recent episode into the ending I have planned. I honesty would not be surprised if parts of the final plan for this arc can be predicted from a mile away while others will not be expected. Well anyway let's get this chapter started.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither Code Geass nor RWBY**

* * *

 **Amity Colosseum, Vale Airspace**

"The final match today, following Team RWBY vs. Team ABRN, will be Team SMKA (Smoke) vs. Team CBPR (Copper)," Professor Port announced over the speaker system after team RWBY left the arena victoriously. Lelouch was discussing some terrible news involving a life altering decision made by the emperor concerning the two princes as well as a few more royals when the announcement of the next match was made.

"Let's see how good your handpicked team actually is Lelouch." The Prime Minister stated as the three took seats by the window to watch.

 _Since we are mostly responsible for the security during the festival, I managed to get my hands on the randomization process and profiles of everyone competing. This should be an easy win for Aigis and the others,_ Lelouch thought as Suzaku, Metis, Kallen, and Aigis approached the center of the arena.

 _Show me what your personal best can actually do,_ Schneizel thought with an apathetic expression on his face while gazing down at the arena.

"Let us commence with an all-out attack." Aigis suggested with the other team members, except for Metis, barely acknowledging what Aigis suggested. The countdown to begin the fight started shortly after this was moment over.

"Hey Jaune look it's your blond not!sister with the girl who is actually her sister," Nora said while nudging the team leader and pointing to where Aigis and Metis stood.

"For a pair of twins, they couldn't look any less alike from here," Ren noted since the two Anti Grimm Suppression Weapons had opposing color motifs and different exterior designs.

Lelouch internally cringed as he took notice of what looked like a lack of unity within the team he built had when the match actually started. Aigis summoned her Gatling gun and started to rain fire down on everything in front of her while Kallen and Suzaku were both charging right into the mechanical girl's line of fire. Metis stayed behind the Aigis and was taking the role of protector for the team's long range support member.

"I guess it was a good thing Aigis started to use a Gatling gun after all. Her military uniform also looks pretty fashionable on her as well," Coco pointed out as Aigis started to use the open terrain her opponent's side had to her advantage.

"I was hoping your team would avoid the fooling mistake of friendly fire Lelouch," Schneizel criticized as one of team CBPR member's got the idea of using her shield to deflect Aigis' bullets towards Kallen who was trying to grab on to one of the more agile members of CBPR. Aigis only stopped firing when she heard Kallen scream and noticed her aura level was down to seventy four percent.

"It seems the Heartless Armed Angel of Area 11 has given Team CBPR an early lead." Oobleck stated as several students from Haven started to cheer from the bleachers. "It looks like Chance from team CBPR is also about to take away her long range advantage as well." Professor Port commented as the leader of team CBPR managed to get into close quarters combat with Aigis.

"Keep your filthy hands off my sister!" Metis shouted as she swung her hammer at the young man and sent him sliding a few feet back after the blocked the strike with his shotgun sword.

"I don't really see the resemblance though," Chance stated as he infuriated Metis and caused her to do a flurry of swings before making his fly through a stone wall hard enough to leave an imprint on another wall.

"Oh it looks like Metis has reduced Chance's aura down to forty seven percent after those hits." Port said while surprised at the girl's power. Metis then followed the boy through the hole and was hit with a shotgun blast to the abdomen and sent flying out the hole she had him make.

While Metis was taking care of Chance and Aigis was trying to provide suppressive fire with her vast arsenal, Suzaku was nearly at a stalemate against a girl using a pair of Sai that could turn into micro Uzis. Each time Suzaku or his opponent would get out of the knight's sword reach, the girl would start shooting and force the knight to use his sword to block the bullets instead of firing the VARIS rifle. On the other hand, she could barely stand up against the two MVS swords when in close range combat and stopped them with her smaller bladed weapons.

Kallen didn't have the problem that her other team members had but rather her opponent was too fast for her. Each time she was about to grab him in her claw, he would jump out of the way and occasionally throw a needle in the claw's joint's making the Black Knight's ace jump out of the way or vaporize the needle so it doesn't damage the joints. "Get back here right now!" Kallen shouted as she missed with the claw once again.

"Where would be the fun in that?" Kallen's foe asked as he leaned back out of Kallen's reach. _When I get my hands on you oh how you will regret it._ Kallen thought as she lunged with the claw again. When her claw was about a foot away from coming into contact with him and he was about to jump out of the way, a secret function allowed the Radiant Wave Surger to shoot past it's perceived reach and clasp onto the boy's head. "Better luck next time," Kallen said too quickly as the boy kicked Kallen's arm and not only broke free from the grip but also dislocate the girl's shoulder.

"Don't worry Kallen, I am coming." Aigis shouted after hearing the scream coming from Kallen and rushed to where she was lying clutching her shoulder with a twenty nine percent aura according to the aura sensors scattered around the arena.

"While the move isn't technically illegal, it is deeply looked down upon and is considered one of the dirtier tactics." Oobleck explained as many spectators were booing the boy from team CBPR for what he did to Kallen.

"Hey I did what I had to do," the boy said while trying to defend himself to the angry crowd unaware that Aigis had just reached her fallen teammate and placed her arm back in place but at the cost of reducing Kallen's aura to eighteen percent. "It's not like I killed her or anything," the boy said as he felt an uncomfortable feeling in his groin like he was kicked with a steel toed boot.

"Let's see you pass that nasty little trick onto your children one day," Kallen said into the boy's ear as she had the Radiant Wave Surger release a full blast to the boy's aura while the claw was still clasped onto his groin.

"It seems Brad from team CBPR is the first one of the match to be eliminated and in a very painful way too." Professor Port said as he and well over four fifths of the men of Remnant had their legs crossed and a pained expression on their face as if they could feel how much agony the poor boy was in.

Unlike with Brad's attack that left the audience booing, Kallen's attack made them all winced in pain at the painfulness of such a brutal strike.

"I like that girl, she reminds me of when I kicked a beowolf in the balls." Coco said right before the member of team CBPR with the shield steamrolled right over Kallen forcing her aura to go down to twelve percent and therefore eliminated from the match.

"So I guess the title of Ace of the Black Knights wasn't for nothing then?" Schneizel noted as Aigis tried to punch and kick her new opponent only for her to block it with the shield.

Suzaku got a lucky break when he managed to trap his opponent's pair of Sai in a blade lock with one of his MVS swords. "Aigis look out," Suzaku yelled at his teammate as he set the rifle to the highest nonlethal level and fired it at the girl Aigis was fighting. The shield wielding girl thought her shield would protect her from the blast but was surprised when the force of the collision made her fly into the out of bounds area.

"It seems Suzaku managed to blast the victory closer for his team. Don't you think Professor?" Professor Oobleck asked as Metis slammed her hammer into Chance's gut with enough force to send the boy flying right into the only remaining member of his team. The force of the impact was enough to knock the girl out of Suzaku's blocking of her two Sai but away from him.

"Hasta la Vista!" Aigis said as she summoned her missile launchers and released a massive volley of missiles right where to two teammates laid on top of each other. The audience didn't have to look at the two students when they could just look up at the information screen and their aura levels were at zero.

"Victory goes to team SMKA from the Holy Britannian Empire." Professor Port announced to the audience as Professor Oobleck adjusted his glasses and silently agreed with his fellow teacher and commentator. After hearing of the victory, several of the royals did a toast to the empire and continued to drink the expensive champagne and eat the food that was provided for them in their private viewing box.

"It seems the team you created to stack the deck in our favor performed successfully even if they did not plan or work well together." Schneizel said as he rose from the chair to go talk with Crown Prince Odysseus and First Princess Guinevere on the other side of the room.

"Don't forget about what Father has decided and you should go meet the woman tomorrow when she arrives. I will inform Labyrs to accompany you in case something happens." Lelouch said and was successful in making Schneizel momentarily stop in his tracks for all of half a second before continuing forward as if he didn't hear Lelouch.

"So I guess this is a regular family reunion for you then?" Coco asked as one of the younger princesses, Carine, started to chastise a Faunus waiter for giving her "water that wasn't cold enough after you already gave me water that was too cold."

"I tend to ignore them most of the time and try not to get mixed up in their political schemes since I don't want a knife in my back or a sword through the heart." Lelouch explained as two soldiers dragged the waiter away for 'educational' purposes.

"It's just your schemes that you prefer over your siblings is that it?" Coco asked the Viceroy as she noticed Velvet waving at her from the bleachers informing her it was time to go. "Well it looks like Velvet wants me to come back to Beacon with the team so we can get ready for tomorrow's match." Coco said as she started to exit the room but was stopped.

"So you must be the Lady Coco Adel I have heard reports about?" Odysseus said as he and Euphemia approached the huntress in training. "I have heard of how skilled you are in battle and how cute your outfits usually are. My name is Princess Euphemia li Britannia though you may call me Euphie." Euphemia said as she had one of the most honest smiles Coco had ever seen from one of the royals.

"It's nice to meet you two as well," Coco said while caught off guard by being personally called out by the Crown Prince and the younger sister of the Chief General who is currently being detained by the church.

"I expect a swift and wonderful victory from you tomorrow. Be sure to make your team, school, and the Royal Family proud tomorrow during the match." Odysseus ordered the leader of Team CFVY and reminded her of her duty to the empire.

While Coco was heading back to where her team was, Aigis and Metis were about to run into someone that would be a game changer for both of them. Walking a few feet away from them, and in a path that would intercept with theirs, was Penny who wasn't paying attention.

"Salutations friend. I am sorry for accidently running into you," Penny cheerfully said as she accidently bumped into Aigis and made the oldest of the two sisters accidently bump into the younger sister.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too. Are you operating at full capacity because my sensor do not register a heart rate when you were automatically scanned just now?" Aigis asked and was quickly silenced by Metis placing her hand on her older twin's mouth.

"I am sorry for my sister. She isn't the best when talking with people and just thought your heart skipped a beat when you two ran into each other that's all." Metis said trying to cover for Aigis so their secret of actually being machines won't be revealed.

"It is no problem new friend. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Penny and from Atlas." Penny said giving an odd wave and extending the same hand out for a handshake.

"My name is Aigis and this is my twin sister Metis. We are both from Britannia, though we haven't seen each other in years, and are competing in the Vytal Festival." Aigis explained as she introduced herself and Metis.

"So why haven't you seen each other in years before the Festival?"

"Aigis is the personal bodyguard of Lelouch vi Britannia, the Eleventh Prince, and oversees all of his security and knights. On the other hand, I have been traveling the world and visiting places other than the homeland." Metis told the ginger haired girl.

"Why did you not bring Aigis along with you for your travels?" Penny asked innocently and while Metis could tell she wasn't trying to be rude in asking, the Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon was getting annoyed at the invasive nature of Penny's questions.

"I traveled without my sister for personal reasons and before you ask what the reasons were, you should know that some things are better kept a secret ok?" Metis asked which concerned Aigis who wasn't used to seeing her sister looking so visibly agitated. Penny got a feeling that she wasn't supposed to be there at the moment and noticed Ciel down the hall. "It was nice meeting you Aigis and hopefully we can fight each other when the finals begin." Aigis nodded in agreement as the Atlesian android ran towards the student that Ironwood assigned to watch over her.

 _Commencing concerned older sister mode,_ Aigis thought to herself as she turned towards Metis. "Are you alright? I am certain that Lelouch might be able to help you if something is wrong." Aigis suggested only for Metis to glare daggers into her. "I just want to keep you safe Aigis and the longer we are around the Royal Family, the closer we are to being in harm's way." _I will never allow anything to hurt you Aigis._

Aigis was extremely confused and concerned over her sister's hesitation to trust Lelouch. Aigis had known him for almost his whole life and had grown to trust him. Despite being the one with the most responsibility in keeping the prince alive, Lelouch had secured her safety almost as much as she did for him to the point that the notion of Lelouch betraying her seemed like an impossible idea. _What reason would Lelouch ever have to betray or get rid of me?_

"Metis I may not be the most empathetic person in Remnant but I am your sister and you can trust me with whatever you think is wrong."

"Aigis do you know why we were even built in the first place? What the purpose of Project Pygmalion was when taken over by the Royal Family?" Metis asked her sister in an extremely somber tone.

"We were built to suppress and eliminate the Grimm threat as well as be protectors of the empire." Aigis answered earnestly only for her younger twin to shake her head.

Metis took a deep breathe before revealing part of the truth to Aigis. "We were created as weapons for the Royal Family to use against those they deem dangerous to their grand plan. We are nothing more than glorified guns and swords to be pointed at their foes with little regard to our own lives. If that wasn't bad enough, we also have a special place in their scheme that we most definitely will not be leaving alive from. My safety isn't secure, your life would be at risk, and even Labrys will just as easily fall when our part of the plan is finished and we are tossed aside like scrap metal. So before you try and argue that this isn't true, I want you to ask yourself which is more important to your darling Lelouch that you hold so dear to yourself, will he sacrifice his plans or your life first if he had to pick between the two?" Metis asked as she stormed away from her severely confused older twin.

"Metis? Please don't go away again," Aigis stuttered as she simply fell to her knees and watched her sister abandon her once again. It was at that moment a small piece of humanity started to grow within Aigis' Papillion heart and an actual tear, not made of oil, ran down her cheek. A dark feeling started to fester inside of Aigis and upon realizing what it was, she tried to shut it, and herself, down but the process pushed her into a critical condition and made her collapse completely on the floor like a broken ragdoll.

Velvet had forgotten her pass that allowed free entry to and from Amity Colosseum in her chair and was rushing to get it when she ran across Aigis. _Wait isn't that the girl that is supposed to protect Lelouch? If something is wrong then he needs to know and Coco can get a hold of him easily,_ the rabbit Faunus thought as she rushed to drag her team leader to where the android was.

"Velvet I can't understand what you are saying when you are talking so fast. What do you mean something is wrong with…." Coco didn't finish what she was saying when she saw the state Aigis was in. _She looks like a hoard of Goliaths had a stampede inside her,_ the Britannian noble thought as she started to call Lelouch. "I don't a damn which of your many brothers or sisters you are currently having a conversation with. If they think they are too important for you to leave a conversation with them to handle a situation, you can tell them to kiss my ass and give their excuse to me in person when I have weapon pointed at them. You need to get down to section A11 and help your bodyguard. She has kept you safe and secure for years and it's time for you to help here because something is going on and if she was a computer she might be having the Blue Screen of Death." Coco nearly yelled into her scroll when she managed to connect a line to Lelouch.

Lelouch arrived less than three minutes later and was stunned at the state Aigis was in. _What the hell did this to her?_ Lelouch pondered as he ordered everyone out of the way and ordered Yatsuhashi to carry the mechanical girl to the nearest Britannian transport. "I am going to make sure she gets some rest and is taken care of before she gets into a worse condition," Lelouch said as he boarded the transport Yatsuhashi laid Aigis down in.

"I will catch up with you later Velvet, I have a few questions that I need answered first," Coco told the Faunus as she boarded the transport before it took off.

"What the hell is going on with her Lelouch?" Coco asked only for his to slightly hide his face before pulling a small box out of his pocket and moving towards the two pilots. "You will not remember anything that happens during a flight if I am one of the passengers. Also you two are to be my personal pilots for the rest of your lives." Coco heard Lelouch order while oblivious to the fact that he was geassing them.

"If this 'thing' your father has set up is going to work between us, you are going to have to be completely honest and tell me what is going on." Coco said as the prince sat back down next to Aigis.

"As you know, Aigis is an Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon and one of my closest companions. I wasn't around when she was first built but I did have all the files concerning her sent to me and I repeatedly read through them to get as much of an understanding about her as I could. Most of the AGSW that were deployed were created with an alternate mode that proved to cause too many glitches. One of the head researchers of the program was a psychologist who called this side that was repressed 'The Shadow Self.'" Lelouch told the team leader who looked Aigis with a slightly confused look.

"Usually the Shadow Self is triggered by an instance of intense emotional, physical, or mental stress. Aigis was experimented on by having her Shadow Self developed while she was still being constructed and then put into a separate machine. Metis is the result of that test and it also forced Aigis to develop a new Shadow Self in response. She was still programmed to have Metis' personality as her Shadow Self so when something that would trigger her to enter that occurs, she would enter a standby mode of sorts due to a mistake in her programming trying to activate something that isn't there." Lelouch said trying to explain Aigis' situation to Coco.

"So Aigis was trying to go into this 'Shadow Self' because of some catalyst but because she wasn't able to turn into Metis, who is actually her Shadow Self, she forced herself into this mode? Why didn't she go into the new Shadow Self?" Coco asked while trying to figure out this Shadow Self thing.

"Aigis is unable to access it on her own due to how dangerous it is. Aigis rivals her older sister Labrys in destructive potential concerning her Shadow Self. The only way she can access it is if someone hacked her into making the Shadow the dominant personality or if ordered to activate it with a key phrase. This was also done to Labrys to limit how much access it has to the world and how destruction it can cause. Metis is an odd example in that she doesn't have a Shadow Self simply because she is a shadow of someone else transplanted into an empty shell." Lelouch tried to explain to Coco as the HMAS Clarent came into view.

"The Metis part makes sense but why even create the Shadow Self in the first place if it is so dangerous?" Coco questioned as she was attempting to solve this situation.

"For an extremely long time, the Holy Britannian Empire has been doing research on semblances because of the Great Betrayal. Aigis and her sisters, starting in I think the third or fourth generation, had personalities created for them to test whether or not semblances were connected to it. Labrys' semblance is that she can create physical holograms to effectively disguise herself and even make herself look completely human. Her Shadow Self can do the same as well as create a companion of sorts to aid her in killing her opponents."

"Don't you mean simply defeating them?" Coco asked concern since she was unsure if Shadow Labrys was a killing machine or simply one that defeats an opponent and nothing else.

"Shadow Labrys kills and destroys everything in her path. Aigis is slightly different in that she doesn't perceive herself as destruction incarnate but both are ordered to be killed if they are found out to enter this mode without special permission. Labrys is to be destroyed if someone other than Schneizel orders Labrys to become Shadow Labrys and I serve the same role as Schneizel for Aigis." Lelouch stated as the transport docked in the Clarent's hangar and several technicians followed a girl, with bluish gray hair with a weird helmet like hair decoration, up to the transport.

"What d'ya think you are doin' with my sister?" Labrys shouted as she approached the prince and the huntress who were both carrying the heavy robot down the ramp. Before Lelouch could explain the situation, Labrys jerked the unconscious robot out of their hands and over her shoulder like she weighed a feather. _Note to self, don't get into an arm wrestling match with her,_ Coco mentally noted after witnessing what the girl did.

"Sorry Labrys, something happened that almost triggered her Shadow Self but she fell unconscious while suppressing it." Lelouch told the body guard of his older brother as they walked to where Aigis' recharging chambers were. "Why would you put her in a situation that would allow for somethin' like that to happen?" Labrys asked as Coco was trying to figure out if this was really the same Labrys that Lelouch was talking about or a different girl that also claimed Aigis as her sister.

"I am unaware of what happened exactly happened but I would put money on Metis knowing or even causing Shadow Aigis to attempt to make an appearance." Lelouch explained as they entered the room Aigis usually recharged in and Labrys placed her younger sister down to start the process.

"She is probably goin' do somethin' alon' the lines of a soft reset and should finish restartin' in a few hours." Labrys explained as the process to fix Aigis began. "I am usually nicer than Metis when it comes to Aigis' protection but I'll tell ya, if someone does somethin' to her, I will be more than willin' to let my shadow do the talkin'."

"I will let Schneizel know it was on my command if necessary," Lelouch told her as the eldest of the three Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons in Vale walked down the hall away from the prince and huntress.

"I have something I need to attend to privately in the Clarent, you should probably head back to Beacon and meet up with your team. If anyone asks about Aigis you need to tell them that she caught a slight bug but will be ready to fight in the doubles when her team competes." Lelouch explained as pointed out how to get to the hangar and left Coco behind.

* * *

 **The Following Day**

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

"You and your whole family is nothing more than a bunch of no good sellouts." Qrow growled at Winter once the head of the Atlesian knight Qrow decapitated fell to the ground. Weiss however was the one to react to the insult.

"Do you have any idea who you are talking to? I will have you know that the Schnee Family is a very honorable family that will not stand for such blatant insults." Weiss said as she started to stomp towards the older instructor from Signal but was stopped when he extended his arm out and blocked her by putting his hand on her head.

"My fight is with the one who agreed to your father's plan about the 'noble' deal." Qrow said as Weiss gave a confused look at her sister.

"I will admit the deal mostly benefits the Schnee family and Schnee Dust Company but I am still not a traitor." Winter said as she put her hand on her weapon in case Qrow was about to cause a fight.

After the two exchanged a few comments with each other, Winter shot towards Qrow and the two started a fight right in the middle of the square in front of Beacon academy. Several benches, lightpoles and pillars were destroyed before Winter tried to conjure up an ursa major to defeat Qrow. Right as the projected Grimm was to swipe at the older hunter, a large and rather odd looking axe came out of nowhere and imbedded itself into the ground following a swift beheading of the fake Grimm.

"I don't care who think you are, you can't just be goin' around destroying public property because you are a teacher or in an arranged marriage with the PM." Labrys said as she effortlessly pulled her axe out of the ground to reveal it made a two and a half foot deep hole.

"What do you mean by arranged marriage? Why haven't you told me about this?" Weiss asked her sister since this was the first time she has heard about it.

"Father tried calling you over the last few days to inform you that I am putting a pending request to be retired from the Atlesian military and will be the main inheritor of the Schnee Dust Company after Empror Charles approached him about a potential arranged marriage." Winter explained while somehow hiding her face from her sister and fiancé who was standing next to Labrys. "The conditions of the deal stated that the Schnee family will obtain a very high rank in the nobility, right below royalty, and in exchange for that, the main inheritor of the Schnee Dust Company marries the Second Prince of the Royal Family." Winter concluded to her sister.

 _Wait does this mean Winter sacrificed her freedom so that I can keep mine?_ Weiss thought as she tried to wrap her head around her sister's arranged marriage and the fact Weiss was no longer the main heiress of the Schnee Family.

"That's what I meant when I called your sister and your family a bunch of no good sellouts. Betraying the rest of Remnant so that they become nobles and have more power." Qrow said as he barely noticed a light movement of Schneizel's fingers and Labrys had her axe up against the hunter's throat. "I will not tolerate such insults in my presence. Especially when they are directed at me or one of my close associates. Here I thought you would be more respectful after that tip on Amber." The Prime Minister said as he motioned for Labrys to stop having her axe press against the hunter's throat.

 _So he was the tip I got?_ Qrow thought as Ruby placed herself between him and the Britannian royal. "I don't think we have met but I don't like it when people are mean to my Uncle Qrow. Sure he can be drunk occasionally but he doesn't deserve you being rude to him like that." The young leader of team RWBY stated as she tried to stick up for her family.

 _You have no idea who this guy is do you? If you had any idea what kind of power he can wield with just word alone, you would run away. Who knows maybe your ignorance is why you're so brave?_ Qrow thought as Ruby continued to stare down the second most powerful man in the Holy Britannian Empire and his bodyguard who is possibly the most dangerous of out of all the generations.

"I apologize for my actions just now though I won't hesitate to order force to be used against you next time." Schneizel told the hunter and his niece. Weiss gave her partner a look as if Ruby had just stared down a pack of beowolves and won.

"So um who else has the emperor decided to arrange a marriage for?" Weiss asked since she was curious as to if the Schnee family was the only family outside the Royal Family to be affected by this decision.

"The matriarch of the Adel family agreed to wed her daughter off in an arranged marriage with the Viceroy of Area 11. Both of them were informed of the arrangement shortly after I was informed. Duke Stadtfeld was approached for his daughter to be involved in one of the marriages but refused on the grounds that the only potential male suitors around Kallen's age was already called for. A few other minor Royals were having their marriages arranged as well." Schneizel stated as Ruby tried to piece together who exactly he was talking about until she figured out it was Coco, Lelouch, and Kallen that was mentioned.

"Nothing more than a political marriage to get the Royal Family more power." Qrow deduced verbally as Labrys glared at the hunter. Qrow's response was to give a sarcastic wink and a slight shift to the right so that she can see Ironwood approaching them.

When she noticed that General James Ironwood was walking towards them with Glynda Goodwitch next to him, Labrys quickly spun on her feet and turned towards the Second Prince. "I hate to ruin the weddin' plannin' boss but Odysseus wants you there to watch team GRAE win their team match before movin' on to the doubles." Labrys said as she motioned for them to leave for Amity Colloseum right then and there.

 _So what exactly is going on nowadays?_ Ruby asked herself as Winter and Qrow walked with Glynda and Ironwood to Ozpin's office. Weiss on the other hand went somewhere else while Ruby decided the dorm was maybe the best place to be at the moment.

* * *

 **A Few Days Later and the Beginning of the Doubles Round**

 **Amity Colosseum, Vale Airspace**

Everyone was sitting anxiously in their seats as the Doubles round was about to begin. Even though Lelouch and Cinder were battling behind the scenes to manipulate the matches into their favor, the audience still got a list of the final results of who would be fighting who. Some of the anticipated matches were: Team RWBY vs. Team FNKI, Team SMKA vs. Team TEEL, Team JNPR vs. Team GRAE, Team SSSN GLDD and Team CFVY vs. Team CMEN (cumen.)

When Coco and Yatsuhashi were revealed to be the representatives from Team CFVY, most of the Royals started to move towards the window to see how one of their newest pending in-laws would do. Lelouch on the other hand was trying to hide how much this match up was putting him on the edge since the other hacker of the randomization processed managed to set up this match instead of Lelouch and he was practically in the dark concerning the outcome of the match.

In the end however, Coco and Yatsuhashi put up a good show before being beaten almost effortlessly by Mercury and Emerald.

"And Father thought she would make a good royal. I guess it's a good thing she has her looks and connections to one of the largest fashion companies in the homeland because she is definitely not fit to survive the royal court if she relies on her combat skills. It's almost a shame Lelouch got stuck with such a weak fiancé." One of the Lelouch's half-brothers commented. He would have continued to insult Coco but a yelp could be heard from where he was as he was forced to kneel in front of where Lelouch was sitting.

"I will not tolerate insults about members of the Aries Villa estate and Lady Coco is a soon to be member of it." A fixed Aigis stated as she stood behind the royal who she felt insulted those she was meant to protect. "When we get back to the homeland I swear I will have her dismantled and turned into scrap metal."

"Do you forget who you are insulting? I am not only higher in the line of succession than you, but I also wield authority as a Viceroy when I give orders. You on the other hand are just a low level prince who Father had with one of his concubines that he probably forgot about." Lelouch said as he rose from his seat and intimidated the slightly older but politically weaker sibling.

"Lelouch I know you are saddened by your fiancé's defeat but you and Prince Conner should know that this isn't how you should act in public." Odysseus said as he made both of them sit far away from each other as the match between Teams JNPR and GRAE were about to start.

"Please be advised that due to one of the weapons being used, the overhead shield is being powered off and the shields around the arena being reinforced." Professor Port said as the mostly transparent shield that covered the top of the arena became visible before disappearing again. Once this was process was finished, Anya and Gino walked into the arena to face off against Pyrrha and Nora.

"Let's see if the Knights of the Round can get a victory for the Empire after that humiliating defeat." Guinevere said causing Lelouch to momentarily glare at her before turning back around to watch the match begin.

"Well ladies it looks like you get the honor of fighting two Knights of the Round outside of their Knightmare frames." Gino said as he got to Team GRAE's starting position.

"You are Pyrrha Nikos, four time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament. You are also known as the Invincible Girl. Let's see how long you and your partner, who I do not know, last against us." Anya said in a monotone voice as Professor Port started the countdown.

This matchup also had Lelouch a little nervous since during his several hour fight with his opposing hacker last night, this was one of the few matches that he or she didn't even try to change. _Did they not notice this match up or are they gambling that the knights will lose?_

Team RWBY and the boys from Team JNPR were cheering on Pyrrha and Nora like crazy from the sidelines. Yang was not the loudest one this time since even though she wanted Team JNPR to win, she didn't want to distract them and make them lose. _I am not losing that bet to Gino since I don't to foot the bill at out next date. Somehow he can eat more food at a restaurant than Ruby can eat strawberries._

Right as the match began, Anya pressed a button on her scroll and a large hadron beam shot from the clouds right between the two teams. This move caught the combatants from Team JNPR off guard and pretty much everyone else in the stadium as well. Slowly lowering itself into the colosseum but still floating a few feet above the ground behind Anya was the Mordred.

"I thought you guys weren't allowed to have Knightmare Frames in the tournament?" Pyrrha asked as Gino unfolded his weapon and revealed it to be a scaled down version of the Tristan's MVS Polearm.

"The rule prohibit us from piloting them, there is a loophole that allows me to control it as a drone during the matches," Anya specified as she pressed a few more buttons and the Mordred took aim at Pyrrha's location.

"You take the pink one, I will deal with the champion." Anya ordered Gino as the Mordred fired the Stark Hadron Cannon again.

"Alright then good luck," Gino told his partner as he ran off to find where Nora was and almost got an explosive hammer to the back.

"There you are." Gino said as he swung the polearm and blocked Nora's second swing.

After having the Stark Hardron Cannon fired at her three more times, Pyrrha remembered what happened when a Nevermore shot arrows at the Knightmare Frame and just started shooting at it. The Mordred's automated defense system kicked in as its blaze luminous shielding created a green crystal like barrier around it. While Anya wasn't able to switch off the automated defense system, she did figure she had one weapon that the crimson Spartan wasn't denying her. Pyrrha was so focused on keeping the Mordred from firing that she didn't notice Anya walking towards her until the pink haired girl slapped her upside the face with her scroll.

Everyone was taken by shock with this attack, except for Gino and Nora who were busy fighting each other, since not only did someone manage to land a hit on Pyrrha Nikos, but it was with a slap from a scroll of all things. "Did she really just do that?" Jaune asked Ren who was seated right next to him. "I guess so."

While Pyrrha was recovering from the shock of the attack, Anya was quickly rushing to the ruined buildings that served as one of the biomes for the battlefield and used the Mordred's factosphere to see what was going on. Pyrrha barely recovered in time to avoid the Mordred's Miniature Proximity Missiles that Anya had fired at her.

 _I can't defeat that Knightmare Frame without revealing the truth behind my semblance, if that will even work against it, so I need to find Anya._ Pyrrha thought as she jumped over some of the missiles and ducked under a few of them. As she reached the biome full of abandoned buildings, Pyrrha heard a few click like someone was typing on a scroll before it suddenly stopped. Pyrrha also observed that the Mordred stopped moving when the clicking also stopped. "She has to be close to here." Pyrrha mumbled under her breath as she moved between the buildings while keeping an eye on the dormant Mordred.

While most people were focused on the "David vs. Goliath" fight that was Pyrrha vs Anya/Mordred, a few were closely watching Gino's duel with Nora with one person watching more intensely than most. _So I rubbed off you that much did I?_ Metis thought to herself as she observed that many of Nora's moves were nearly identical to her own and was proud that she was standing her own against Gino.

Right when Gino was going to do a diagonal swipe down to strike against Nora, Nora got in close and slammed the end of her hammer's handle right into Gino's stomach and then swung around and blasted him into the desert biome.

"Oh it looks like Gino's aura level has hit the forty three percent mark. Maybe Miss Valkyrie might be able to smash the G of team GRAE out of the match." Professor Oobleck commented as Nora fired a few grenades into the sand hoping to mess up Gino.

Gino may be a good Knightmare pilot but that doesn't mean he is good in a fight out of one. When the Knight of Three tried to get up on his feet, he simply slid down the sand dune until he noticed Nora standing above him and holding her hammer like a golf club. "Come on really?" Gino asked as Nora gave a giant grin as yelled "FORE!"

The next thing Gino knew, he was slammed in his side by Nora's hammer and landed very painfully in the out of bounds area. Before she could celebrate her victory, Nora was hit in the back by enough of the Mordred's homing missiles to reduce her Aura to three percent. Nora then walked off the battlefield since she was eliminated thanks to her Aura level being depleted.

Pyrrha became more frantic with her search after the two elimination noises going off. She was lucky in that she barely made it out of the building she was in before Anya obliterated it with the Stark Hadron Cannon.

"I for one am thankful that Anya is firing that thing at full power. If she was then that shield would be gone and we would all be plummeting down to the ground." One of Lelouch's siblings noted after Anya missed her target and ended up hitting the shield around the arena.

When Pyrrha finally found Anya, she blocked the pink haired girl's exit from the building. "Tag, you are beat." Anya declared as she had the Mordred punch through the doorway Pyrrha was standing in front of. Pyrrha however sensed the metal coming for her and jumped out of the way of the mechanical fist. Anya wasn't as lucky as the large and heavy mechanical fist slammed into her petite body and threw her through four walls.

"Well um it seems Anya has eliminated herself by reducing her Aura completely and may have also injured herself in the process." Professor Port noted as Anya fell from the crater her body made in the wall and was unable to get up.

"Well today has just been a horrible fucking day for us hasn't it?" One of the many siblings amongst the royals shouted as she threw her glass across the room and into the glass wall that allowed them to see the fights.

"We still have one more team that has yet to compete. I have faith that they will prove to be victorious." Odysseus said while remaining optimistic.

Unfortunately for the members of the Royal Imperial Family of the Holy Britannian Empire, Schneizel received a phone call that surprised everyone when his stoic demeanor broke and he delivered the worst piece of Britannian News up until that point of the year. Euphemia and several of her and Lelouch's siblings actually started to cry upon hearing what the phone call was about.

* * *

 **So this is the longest chapter in the story so far. So yeah Anya and Gino lost against Pyrrha and Nora. I figured since Anya used the Mordred during that one event hosted by Milly in R2, why not have Anya find a loophole and use it during the festival. So Charles decided to make a rumor reality by arranging some marriages for the future. Will these marriages actually occur or not? You will see in the upcoming chapters. What exactly is the heartbreaking news that Schneizel heard that reduced several social darwinistic royals into actually crying and becoming saddened even more than the two defeats? Let's just say this is the last day that the Royals (except for Lelouch and Schneizel) are seen anywhere in Vale since they will be staying on the Clarent for the rest of the arc.**

 **For those of you who have played persona and might be a bit angry at how I made the shadow selves work in this story. I had to figure out a way to fit them in while keeping it from being a supernatural phenomenon like it is in the game. I can assure you that by the end of the Vytal Festival Arc, Shadow Labrys will be making a very important appearance.**

 **So I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. I will work on and upload the next chapter when I get the chance in the future. So until then this is Bylackbre signing off.**


	10. Truth and Betrayal

**Hey I am back with the next chapter of the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass and neither do I own RWBY**

* * *

 **During Gino, Anya, Nora, and Pyrrha's match**

 **Beacon Academy Infirmary, Beacon Academy**

Before the defeat of Gino and Anya as well as before the Royal Family received the worst news of the year so far, Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu was paying a visit he should have taken care of several days beforehand.

Rolo froze the perception of time for everyone in the infirmary except for Cardin Winchester as the former walked into the room. Cardin at the time was still asleep thanks to a machine that would keep him unconscious until someone decided it was time for him to wake up.

When the Cardinal walked up to the injured hunter in training and noticed this, he got his staff out and fired a large burst of electricity at the machine overloading its internal electronic systems. When did injured Cardin but didn't wake him up, Rolo sent a light electrical shock into the boy literally making him jolt awake in slight pain.

"Glad you could be awake for this," Rolo said as he made sure to freeze Cardin's hands and feet to the bed so he won't try to attack Rolo or escape.

"What is it that you want? Who the hell are you anyway?" Cardin asked since he had no idea who the person who shocked him awake was. Cardin did a quick look over of his 'visitor' before Rolo could answer and a shiver ran down Cardin's spine when he recognized one of the symbols on Rolo's robe.

"My name is Rolo Gaeibleu, Cardinal of the Church of Geass in Area 11 and one of the executives of the Heretic Trial Division." Rolo explained as he put his staff back on his back. "If I remember correctly didn't your grandfather hold the position of Cardinal of the Church of Geass in Area 11 before me?" Rolo asked with a sly grin as Cardin started to get an idea of what was about to happen.

"At least let me fight you in a fair fight. I may occasionally bully people but I deserve not to be put down with no honor like mongrel." Cardin said only for Rolo to freeze more of his arms and legs.

"I would let you fight but we both know in a straight up battle of strength you would beat me and avenge your pitiful grandfather who I charged with heresy." Rolo said as he turned to Cardin's team member and completely incased in ice. "Survival of the fittest dictates that I take every advantage that I can take to ensure my survival. So by allowing myself to prevent you from obtaining any advantage in the fight, I am being virtuous."

Cardin was quickly becoming disgusted with the man who ruined his grandfather and father's life and making them move away from Britannia. "If you are going to kill me then you better do it now since once I break out of this ice I will strangle you." Cardin threatened only for Rolo to shake his head.

"I want you to watch as the team consisting of Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie effortlessly fall to the might of Sir Gino and Dame Anya." Rolo stated as he pressed a button on the remote on Cardin's bedside table and a television screen started to broadcast the fight that was going on in Amity Colosseum.

While Rolo, like all the Britannians in the delegation, was confident in Gino and Anya's capabilities to win. He was made furious when Gino was eliminated by Nora and Anya defeated herself in battle. "It looks like you overestimated the capabilities of the Knights of the Round." Cardin said as he felt his tongue suddenly being frozen.

"I guess there is no reason to keep you and your team member alive anymore." Rolo said as the ice on Dove's body shift and became a pillar sticking out of his mouth. Dove drowned in the melting ice and was completely unaware of his own execution. Cardin could only watch in horror as the rest of the pillar melted inside of Dove and then hardened freezing Dove's insides.

"I guess you could say he drowned with a cold heart." Rolo joked as the ice on Cardin's limbs grew and started to spread all over his body. "I'll explain what I have in store for you."

"You see this ice will continue to spread until your whole body is incased in it like your former friend Dove there was. However unlike him, frostbite will quickly cover your body and kill you with the ice melting as soon as you are dead. This way there will be way an investigation can lead to me thanks to the usefulness of ice as the perfect execution weapon." Rolo explain as the ice started to spread even faster than before.

Cardin was about to protest when his head was covered in the ice and the rest of his body followed soon after. Rolo waited a short amount of time for the frostbite to kill Cardin before melting the ice. Rolo was about to just walk out of the area and resume everyone's perception of time when he got an idea. "You know, I really did hate your grandfather and took joy in stealing his job from him." Once Rolo was finished telling the dead hunter in training that, three large icicles appeared about Cardin's eyes and mouth and then impaled his head through all three.

"I am glad to say my work here is done." Rolo remarked as he shut the door and resumed everyone in the infirmary's perception of time. "Hmm I expected for screams from that to be honest," Rolo told himself as he casually strolled away from the infirmary full of people screaming in fear and terror.

* * *

 **Following Gino and Anya's Defeat**

 **Amity Colosseum, Vale Airspace**

A few minutes after Schneizel received a phone call informing him of the worst news of the year so far, emergency news reports were sent to all the scrolls in the different kingdoms and when Velvet read what it was, she ran for the infirmary to inform Coco whether she already knew it or not.

Laying in a hospital bed and lying on her back so that nobody and can see the nasty wound given to her by Emerald, was Coco who had just finished the initial treatment for her injuries.

"What wrong Velv?" Coco asked as she saw the worried look on her partner's face and was unaware of the news since her scroll was in a box right now with her normal combat outfit.

"You need to read this right now!" Velvet order her team leader as she handed her scroll to the Britannian noble. "Pendragon Royal Hospital confirms the death of Emperor Charles zi Britannia." Coco read out loud as she quickly scanned through the alert with a panicked look on her face. "Though the members of the Royal Imperial Family has been at odds with one another for years with the individual relations with the Patriarch varying with each of his children, it is safe to assume all are in mourning of their father's death." Coco read to the rabbit Faunus before continuing to read about what different organizations are doing in response to the death.

"The Church of Geass' Heretic Trial Division has revealed that they will not be executing Princess Cornelia li Britannia in a move of mercy but will still be stripping her of her claim to the throne. The Church has also said a weeks of mourning would not be looked down upon and the people in the empire should remember the late emperor not for the evil things the other kingdoms have accused him for but rather for the positive impact he left on the empire while alive." Coco read aloud and was slightly relieved to hear about how the Second Princess will be spared execution for going against the Church's teachings. The relief was short lived as she started to worry another Britannian Civil War might break out if different Royals decided that they want to have the throne instead of letting Odysseus have it.

"The Pendragon Royal Hospital has declared the cause of death to be a result of a heart attack with multiple veins being blocked. They were unable to save the leader of the empire with the personnel that tried to save the Emperor's life not commenting on the matter." Coco read to Velvet as she actually felt pity for how the emperor died.

"Crown Prince Odysseus eu Britannia is to be crowned Emperor upon his arrival to the homeland after the Vytal Festival is over. Schneizel el Britannia is currently the Second Prince and is the Prime Minister at the moment. All governmental authority is being transferred to him until Odysseus assumes the position of Empeor. Prince Clovis la Britannia is currently the highest ranking royal still in Pendragon at the time and has been stated to support Odysseus' claim to the throne but wishes to not be disturbed in this time of mourning." Coco read as she ignored the rest of the article and tried to get out of the bed to see Lelouch about this but the pain in her back prevented her from leaving the bed before it was healed.

Realizing what her partner was going to do, Velvet nodded and ran off to where the Britannian royals were and quietly entered. Even though Coco told her about how Lelouch knows most of the Royal Imperial Family hated the emperor for the type of father he was, she was surprised to see how somber and depressed looking most of them were and actually managed to walk up to Lelouch without one of the Royals confronting her about her Faunus heritage. "Coco wanted to come up here and see you but her back was badly injured by that strike from Emerald. She thinks it would be best if you come with me to see her." Velvet said softly as Lelouch silently followed her to the infirmary. While walking out of the area, Velvet noticed a royal that looked like a younger pink haired Cornelia being hugged by that one guy that was on Aigis' team during the team rounds.

This was honestly the first time Velvet was along with Lelouch without Coco around and was shocked at how silent the halls of Amity Colosseum was as the news of Charles' death was spreading. The reason everything was so silent was that most people were worried that even though Charles was a very threatening leader of the Holy Britannian Empire, nobody was sure if his successor would try to invade the other kingdoms or not and whether or not he would be worse than Charles.

Coco only had to make one comment for the stoic expression on Lelouch's face, which was created following the reveal of the news, to start to break apart. "I know you hated his guts but I really do feel sorry for you and Nunally." Velvet was confused as to who Nunally was but watched as Lelouch sat in the chair next to Coco's bed and the fashionista placed a lone hand on his cheek.

"I figured he gave you the assignment as Viceroy of Area 11 to keep you and Nunally away from the rest of the Royal Family since you two were so young and Marianne wasn't around to use her influence to protect you anymore. I know you hate him for essentially exiling you and Nunally to a faraway Area with little to no support but he did help shape you into the man you are today." Coco told her old friend and the man who she was in an arranged marriage with.

"He kept you alive by giving you Aigis to protect you, Schneizel to teach you politics, and Cornelia to help you learn how to field an army. He paved the way for you to become the man you are today instead of someone like your siblings upstairs. If it wasn't for his actions of kicking you and Nunally out of Pendragon, who knows what would have happened to you two or if Nunally would even be alive today." Coco said as Velvet could swear her ears were hearing something coming out of Lelouch's mouth but decided to leave the room instead of investigating.

As Velvet was walking out of the room so that Lelouch and Coco could have some privacy without her around for once, she walked straight into Blake Belladonna from team RWBY.

"Have you see where William Sterling is?" The cat Faunus asked as Velvet only shrugged her shoulders and the dark haired girl continued to search around for where her father went. Blake finally found him when he was relaying orders to the Britannian security forces to move all the royals back to the Clarent on Schneizel's orders.

"So what is going to happen now that the Emperor is dead?" Blake asked her father after dragging him away from the other Britannians. "Well things back in the homeland will be chaotic for a little bit until Odysseus takes the throne. Other than that I have no idea what to expect in the future. I have only lived through one emperor so I don't know how things will unfold now that it is time for a new emperor and a war hasn't broken out over the throne." Sterling said while giving his own opinion about what will be happening soon.

"What about the White Fang? Do you think they will do something after hearing about this?" Blake said while worried that such a large collection of politicians. Most of whom have fought against the White Fang's agenda in the past, all in in one location.

"The dumb ones will think that this would be the best time to attack Pendragon since the government is falling apart without the emperor to guide them in the idiots' eyes. The smart ones would wait it out to see what kind of emperor Odysseus will be like. They probably don't know if he will be a peaceful emperor or rule with a more iron fist than Charles." Sterling guessed but interjected with one last prediction before his daughter could say something. "If they were pragmatic like me then they wouldn't strike at Pendragon but rather hit us hard here and then send an assassin after Clovis to kill him off. If they wanted to cause chaos in Britannia then they would take out as many people in a leadership position at once."

"I mean we have the Prime minister, and multiple Viceroys from more than one Area in the homeland. Hell even have a Cardinal from the Church running around here somewhere and his death would be important enough to shake up the Church of Geass a little. What I am trying to get at here Kitten is that if the White Fang was smart, they would focus all their resources on an attack here and try to get through the defenses we have set up and the Atlesian military Ironwood brought with him." Sterling explained as he put his gloved hand on Blake's head and ruffled her hair a little. "There is nothing you should worry about. I will make sure my little kitten stays safe."

Even though she and her father have tried to reconcile since the young Faunus learned of her actual heritage, she still got annoyed when he used little nicknames and messed around with her. "Ok you may be my father, and I might occasionally come to you for assistance but that doesn't mean you can start calling me kitten whenever you want."

"Blake I thought you would know better. I am you Father, I can do things like that if I want. But I guess you are right since you aren't a toddler anymore and don't act like a baby kitten anymore so I will have to find another name to call you." Sterling calmly told his daughter before he remember what he was actually supposed to be doing at the moment. "I have to go oversee the moving of Royals to the Clarent right now. If you want to have dinner somewhere let me know, us Knights of the Round get paychecks that are worth more than several pretty pennies."

Blake watched as her father order soldiers around for a bit until she decided to go check up on if the tournament will be continuing for the day. When she sat back down with the rest of her team she was surprised to see happened to the flags. Usually there is one large holographic flag for each of the kingdoms but since the time Blake left and returned, all of the flags had been replaced by the Britannian Flag.

"The councils of the different kingdoms have come to the joint decision that as sign of good faith to the Britannians that we wish the best for them in this transitional period, all the flags in Amity Colosseum are to be changed to the Britannian flag for one day and the Britannian National Anthem is to be played over the intercoms." Professor Port said as he pressed a button and All Hail Britannia started to play.

"Truth and hope in our Fatherland!

And death to every foe!

Our soldiers shall not pause to rest

We vow our loyalty

Old traditions they will abide

Arise young heroes!

Our past inspires noble deeds

All Hail Britannia!

Immortal beacon shows the way

Step forth and seek glory!

Hoist your swords high into the clouds

Hail Britannia!

Our Emperor stands astride this world

He'll vanquish every foe!

His truth and justice shine so bright

All hail his brilliant light!

Never will he be overthrown

Like mountains and sea

His bloodline immortal and pure

All Hail Britannia!

So let his wisdom guide our way

Go forth and seek glory

Hoist your swords high into the clouds

Hail Britannia!"

While this song was being sung, Blake noticed that every single Britannian was standing for the duration of it and only sat back down when the song was finished. "Hey since both of your parents are technically members of Britannian aristocracy, shouldn't you have stood for the singing of your national anthem?" Ruby asked since the team leader was right in that Blake was a pureblooded Britannian.

"I am still adjusting to the realization of where I was born and I never really considered myself part of the empire anyway." Blake explained as Oobleck announced that the next few Doubles round will be beginning soon and that Team RWBY was going to be one of those competing.

A couple of hours later the only royals that were staying for the rest of the Vytal Festival for the day were Lelouch and Schneizel. The former was given orders by Coco to stay with team CFVY for the rest of the day but when he refused to listen to her, Coco instead ordered Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi to follow him around and stay with him. Schneizel however was talking with Suzaku alone during the Team RWBY vs. Team FNKI fight.

"You fought very well alongside Aigis during the doubles round Sir Kururugi. I have taken notice of your talents and they are wasted in the service of Lelouch. What I need is for your help in bringing about a better world for all of remnant." Schneizel said as he congratulated the young man on his victory in the doubles round and was also trying to talk him into a job opportunity.

"What kind of world are you talking about your majesty?" Suzaku asked while trying to figure out what angle the Prime Minister was getting at.

"I dream of a world that is much better than the one we have today. The world I envision for Remnant is a world that allows everyone to live in peace. Imagine a world where Faunus and humans can live side by side without conflict or threatening each other. Picture a Remnant where the kingdoms can all come together and have an open trade of ideas and resources without one nation fearing the other." Schneizel said as he walked towards the large window the other Royals previously watched the fights from.

"If you look over at where a majority of the Atlesians are, you will see that they eye our soldiers with fear and mistrust. They are fooled by the lies woven by their instructors and general into believing that we are the greatest threat to exist in the world of Remnant. It saddens me that they are farther from the truth than they could ever imagine with us being the saviors and the greatest harbingers of peace in this cruel world that is covered with the blood of the unfortunate." Suzaku looked over at the Atlesian students and started to believe in what Schneizel was saying.

"I alone know the true way to bring peace to Remnant but I am unable to do it by myself. To achieve my dream of peace I will need your assistance and absolute loyalty. It will be a hard and sometimes almost impossible road to travel upon but I hope I can have your cooperation." Schneizel said as he extended his hand out for a handshake. "I will not order you to bow before me and make yourself beneath me in this grand plan of mine. No I will offer you my hand and work with you as a partner rather than a master."

Suzaku thought about what he was just offered for a short period of time. _If I accept his offer than I will be betraying the trust of Lelouch who has been my friend for years. I will also probably be betraying my friendship to those from Ashford Academy since I would be betraying Lelouch. If I side with Schneizel then I can try and see if I can get to be a member of the Knights of the Round and eventually the Knight of One. Once I become the Knight of One, I can request Area 11 as where I am Viceroy and finally raise the living standards of my fellow Elevens while not betraying the system in any way possible._

"I will agree to work with you if you can convince Odysseus to promote me to a member of the Knights of the Round once he is coroneted." Suzaku demanded only for Schneizel to ponder on it for a minute before nodding his head.

"I will accept the conditions you place on the deal but I must ensure your loyalty first by giving you a mission that will judge whether you are truly loyal to me or not." Schneizel said as he took a step closer to the young knight. "Metis is too much of a wild card and does not work well with my orders, I want you to isolate her during Aigis' match in the finals and kill her. This action will cement your loyalty to me and allow you to have my trust." Schneizel said as Suzaku only nodded as left the room

 _I am sorry that I am having to do this to you Aigis but she was an obstacle to peace that I could not allow to live any longer. If word got out of what she truly knew behind the project that gave birth to you and your sisters, then peace around the world would be impossible._

* * *

 **A Few Days Later During the Start of the Finals**

 **Amity Colosseum, Vale Airspace**

It had been a few days the death of Emperor Charles zi Britannia occurred and the Royal Imperial Family was shaken up. All of the royals that were in Vale decided to stay aboard the Clarent with Lelouch and Schneizel being the only ones electing to actually come to Amity colosseum to watch the last of the doubles and the finals.

Lelouch tried wearing a disguise of what he thought a normal Ashford Academy student would wear but when Coco saw him in it she immediately dragged him away to "get some clothes that aren't absolutely hideous looking." The next time Velvet saw the prince, he was wearing dark colored pants, a black shirt, and a red jacket to complete the outfit. Lelouch also had a hat and a pair of sunglasses to help hide him in the crowd.

"Those aren't a pair of your sunglasses are they?" Velvet whispered to Coco who gave the Faunus a sly smile and a slap on the butt. "You know it's been a while since I did that and it has also been quite some time since I pulled your ears either."

Velvet's cheeks became super red while she folded and pressed her ears against the side of her head as Team CFVY plus Lelouch walked off the transport and into Amity colosseum. Once they were about to be seated, Lelouch decided that instead of sitting right next to them, he would be sitting one row behind them instead so that attention isn't drawn to himself.

Right when they were just getting comfortable, the first of the final matches were about to begin. Lelouch knew that Yang was one of the hardest hitting combatants and so he sabotaged the competition by pairing her up against Mercury to get revenge. Lelouch would have felt much more reassured in this match's victory on his terms but the person who was also changing the pairings left the pair alone. _What do you have planned for this round?_

The match was a wonderful show of skill and strength but the ending was one that would go down in the records. When it looked like Yang shot Mercury in the knee while unprovoked, two squads of Britannian soldiers led by Sir Sterling stormed the arena and surrounded Yang.

"Miss Xaio Long I don't want arrest you and I normally wouldn't for someone breaking the rules in this tournament but you just shot a man in the knee for no damn good reason so if you don't want to face the firing squad without a trial first, I would suggest you come with me right now." Sterling ordered as he positioned one of his revolvers to be aimed at the huntress in training's head.

"But he attacked first." Yang pleaded to the soldiers and the Knight of Five though it fell on deaf ears. As she surrendered and followed the Knight, Yang looked over into the audience and immediately regretted it. The first thing she saw was her team with varying emotions. Blake was in disbelief of what she was seeing, Weiss was shocked, but Ruby was affected the worst. She had a look of pure horror on her face as she witnessed her sister do something she never in her wildest dreams would do: attack someone for no reason and potentially cripple them.

Schneizel was surprised at the attack though he wasn't the only surprised one in the room at the time. Rolo wasn't expecting such brutality from the blond beauty but he was still impressed by her ruthlessness. Labrys was disturbed that a person was capable of such heartlessness.

"You don' think she could be the next maiden d'ya?" Labrys asked the two men who were with her. "If you asked me who it is, I would put money on Ozpin selecting that Nikos girl." Gaeibleu guessed as he opened the file they had on her. "Her profile makes her one of the primary candidates for the position. She has wonderful grades, already a four time champion, and apparently she has a very warming and embracing attitude." Cardinal Gaeibleu reported as he skimmed through the OSI report on the huntress in training. "One of the OSI operatives you brought with you also did a scan on her and discovered what her semblance actually is: manipulation of the magnetic properties of metal. It's probably what has allowed her to win so many fights in the past. It's a good thing she isn't battling Aigis or the robot would have been left in two or more pieces."

"I think it is safe to assume she is possibly the maiden. I want you to bring her here during the upcoming fight Aigis is participating in. If she really is the headmasters' selection for the replacement of Amber, then I will reveal the truth they kept hidden from her." Schneizel ordered the Cardinal who bowed and proceeded to leave the room to go find Pyrrha and take her to Schneizel.

"If Miss Nikos is indeed next in line to be the Fall Maiden, then you can expect Cinder to make her move during the match. That's why when her battle begins, we need to head down to Beacon before the match begins. Admiral Grey is to be in command during the time I am finishing the operation. If he tries to figure out what we are doing, reveal nothing to him." Schneizel told the Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon.

"Nothing she can throw at us will be able to stand against the combined might of you, Gaeibleu and Sterling." Schneizel noted as Oobleck reported that after they had technical difficulties, the Sun vs. Aigis match will be commencing in twenty minutes.

"So that peace may live to see a future return, a life who stands in its way must be sacrificed." Schneizel said as he noticed Suzaku in the audience following Metis out of the seating area and into the maintenance tunnels. _It is time for you to serve your purpose Sir Kururugi._

* * *

Aigis was wanting to see Metis one last time before her fight with Sun but after stalling for as much time as possible, her twin sister never showed up. What Aigis didn't know was that Metis was currently being held at gunpoint by Suzaku.

"I want to confirm it for myself first Metis, are you truly an enemy of peace like Prince Schneizel said you are?" The knight asked as Metis held her hands behind her trying to be subtle and reach for a collapsible version of her hammer.

"So the 'White Prince' sent you after me then? I am a supporter of peace but not the peace that Schneizel envisions. I am suggesting that you get out of here and as far away from Schneizel as you can while you have the chance. Because I had to get away when I realized the truth behind people like me and what you will soon become. The Royals see us as nothing more than tools to be used and disposed of when we no longer serve a purpose or refuse to play by their rules. The moment you move against me is the instant you sign away your freedom and become a puppet in the sadistic games the princes and princesses play against each other. Labrys and Aigis are already pawns in the game though Labrys is only kept around for the usefulness of her Shadow while Aigis is actually cared about by Lelouch and she cares more about him than either of them will ever realize until it is too late for her." Metis warned as she extended her hammer and held it in front of her.

* * *

"So you are the one they refer to as Sun Wukong? I have heard many good things about you from my friends Velvet and Nora. Do all civilians and hunters in training born in Vacuo wear unbuttoned shirts on a regular basis or just an odd habit you picked up?" Aigis asked her opponent as she adjusted the tie under her uniform. Lelouch just facepalmed in the audience since his bodyguard might have offended an entire kingdom without realizing it with such an innocent question.

"Well it's nice to meet you too Aigis. Don't worry it is just a habit I picked up along the way" Sun said as he pulled out and unfolded his weapon into its staff form.

"So I guess we will be starting this match with our weapons already out then," Aigis observed as she materialized her gatling gun and pointed it at Sun. _Okay so she prefers to use that to keep people away from her and under suppressive fire. She can easily beat me in the long range game but I might stand a chance of winning this if I can get up close to her._ Sun thought while Oobleck was starting a countdown for the match to begin.

* * *

Once the countdown began for the start of the match, Schneizel heard a knock on the door and Cardinal Gaeibleu followed Pyrrha inside. "It's an honor to be personally summoned by you Prime Minister el Britannia." The P of Team JNPR said as she approached him.

Schneizel motioned for Rolo to leave them be as he took a seat outside to watch the match unfolding in the arena below. "I should be the one honored to make the acquaintance of such a talented young maiden." Schneizel said and noticed the huntress stiffen slightly when he said the word maiden. _So this truly is the next Fall Maiden._

"Well thank you for the compliment and thank you for sending Cardinal Gaeibleu to come and get me instead of one of your soldiers. He seems like such a nice and likable person. If only there were more people as considerate as him in this world." Pyrrha said as she took a seat Schneizel motioned for her to sit in.

"I assume you have heard of the story of the four maidens? It's a popular bedtime story we tell to children back in the homeland though there is always a part at the beginning that people outside of Britannia tend to forget. Would you like to hear the true historical version of the legend?" Schneizel asked as he considered this a victory for himself after seeing the finalist from Team JNPR squeeze the arms of the chair she was in at the mention of the story.

"I will take that as a yes then. Our story begins thousands of years before the official calendar that everyone knows is lying about the origins of the different kingdoms."

* * *

"We both know that Schneizel is capable of bringing about the peace that he envisions. I have already sworn my loyalty to him and I will carry out his orders. Even if it means betraying those close to my friends." Suzaku said as fired the VARIS rifle and lunged forward with a slash from his MVS sword.

Metis responded to the attack by shattering the rifle blast with her hammer and blocking the sword in the same movement. "I have been operational for almost as long as you have been alive. You will need a lot of skill to put me down permanently." Metis said as she swung her hammer with such force that when Suzaku blocked the blow with his sword, he slid back several feet thanks to the force of the strike.

"How long do you think it is going to be before he targets Aigis, Kallen, or even Lelouch?" Metis asked as she tried to smash him with her hammer but missed.

Suzaku ignored her question and fired the rifle a few more times only for Metis to either dissipate the shot with a blow from her hammer or she simply ducked out of the shot's path. Suzaku was about to jump forward and slash with the drawn sword but Metis stopped him. She shot forward at an incredible speed before kneeing the young man in the gut and making him fly across the room. _If this is here fighting off someone like me, what is she and the others actually capable of against the Grimm?_ Suzaku thought as he tried to get up but the pain from two of his broken ribs forced him to use the wall as a crutch of sorts.

"I will give you credit though, most people that are as weak as you would have already died at this point in our fight. Maybe I should give you more credit than I gave you at first." Metis said as she was about to smash Suzaku's head into the wall with her hammer.

It must have been the implication that Suzaku would have died had he been weaker that triggered his semblance to force him to win no matter the cost. Metis was surprised when not only Suzaku ducked out of the way of Metis' hammer, but he also tackled her to the ground in one swift movement. _So this must be his survival semblance I have heard rumors of for so long._ Metis thought as she threw Suzaku off of her and barely avoided the knight's MVS sword.

Metis was actually starting to get mad by the multiple slashes she was being forced to dodge as she couldn't block them in time like before. "I haven't had an opponent anger me enough to use this in several years." Metis announced as she activated Neo Orgia Mode and charged at Suzaku with might more strength and speed than before. "My limiters are released, so let's dance."

* * *

As soon as Oobleck finished counting down, Sun immediately jumped to the side as Aigis unleashed a massive bombardment of bullets at him from the gatling gun.

"It looks like Aigis' suppressive fire is doing a job at suppressing Sun's ability to fight." Oobleck told Professor Port who was sitting next to him.

While trying to run around Aigis and her hail of bullets, Sun used his semblance to create two clones to attack Aigis. The first disipatted after managing to knock Aigis off balance with a kick to the back of the knee while the other one knocked the minigun out of Aigis' grip and the gun disappeared when it hit the ground.

Aigis recovered and summoned her missile launcher and countered Sun's attack when he jumped in the air in an attempt to hit Aigis in the head with his staff.

Sun came crashing down to the ground after one of the missiles hit him and Blake actually gasped at how he landed on his back in a very painful way.

"Sun Wukong's aura level has reached fifty nine percent while Aigis is still at eighty seven percent." Professor Port stated even though Lelouch knew that was a lie. All Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons were built without auras and so to keep up the illusion of her not being a machine. So instead of an actual aura, what their aura detectors are picking up is an aura simulator that is supposed to predict how much aura Aigis and her sisters would have if they had an aura.

"Come one Sun! You can beat her." Ruby shouted as the rest of Sun's fans started to cheer him on and yell at him to stand up and beat Aigis.

Aigis wasn't without fans either as the Britannians started to yell encouragements to Aigis and even students from other kingdoms were also rooting for the girl.

Sun jumped back up to his feet and laughed a little as he rubbed his back. "I want to thank you Aigis, I have been meaning to get my back popped lately."

Aigis switched to her assault rifle when Sun came barreling towards her and changed his staff into its nunchaku form.

Sun once again knocked Aigis' weapon out of her hands and he unleashed a flurry of shotgun blasts from his nunchakus. Aigis quickly switched to a pistol and tried to hit him with a few bullets from it while dodging some of the blasts.

"I got you… Launch!" Aigis shouted as she tossed her pistol into her left hand and exchanged it for a shotgun with nonlethal ammunition loaded it and fired after blocking one of Sun's blasts and managed to point the gun at an upward angle at his chest.

Sun went fly several feet back before managing to get back up with a major bruise where Aigis had shot at him. Sun also noticed that there were several holes in his shirt where stray bullets from Aigis' pistol broke through the fabric but missed hitting him.

"From here it looks like Sun's Aura has gone below the thirty percent mark with Aigis still having over forty five after that barrage from Sun." Oobleck reported as he did an update on their aura levels.

"You know that was my favorite shirt Aigis." Sun complained as he took off the ruined shirt. His fangirls in the audience went ecstatic over the fact he was fighting shirtless but there was absolutely no reaction out of Aigis.

"If you are trying to impress me with your body, you are not doing a good job since my adoration is stolen by someone else already." Aigis told the monkey Faunus as she equipped her missile launcher, gatling gun, and mortar all at once.

"She is going to do an all-out attack isn't she?" Coco asked Lelouch who only nodded as the Sun vs. Aigis fight was about to reach its finale.

* * *

"Back when the Holy Britannian Empire was first being formed, the Royals were some of the strongest people in the empire. Our semblances were superior to all of those beneath them at the time." Schneizel said as he started the story.

"A group of rebels started to protest the Emperor's authority and a civil war broke out that would have put the latest great war to shame. The Emperor was overconfident in his ability to win the war so he hired a consultant who was really a spy for the rebels. This spy's semblance allowed him to suppress or even steal the semblances from other people." Schneizel recounted as Pyrrha tried to distract herself with the match below but found she wasn't able to.

"When the rebels finally started to siege the ancient capital, this was thousands of years before we adopted Pendragon as the capital, the spy opened the gates to let them in. The members of the Royal family put up an grand fight that they were effortlessly winning before the Great Betrayal occurred. The spy should have died many times over with how much of his semblance he exerted, and he seemingly did something that should have been impossible and is currently irreversible to the Royal Family." Schneizel told the young huntress who was starting to become confused as to what actually happened.

"When that man stole the semblances of the Royals, he didn't just steal the semblances from those that were alive at the moment, but all future descendants of the Royals that laid claim to the throne. That is why the only royals who actually have semblances are those adopted into the family and those who are married into it. This curse is what helps us identify one another from frauds since we are unable to have a semblance."

"The Knights were established to provide protection for us after the incident and ultimately the rebels were forced to retreat from the capital. The spy went into hiding and isolation until he was somewhere between old and middle aged. It was at this point that all the stolen semblances started to mutate within his body and become a new power. This new power was what was bestowed upon the four maidens and the man's semblance to steal other people's powers was changed into one in which he became an almost immortal figure." Schneizel explained as Pyrrha learned the truth behind where the maiden's powers came from.

"My ancestors hunted the old man down and when they learned they couldn't get their powers back due to them becoming mutated and being transferred, the tortured him for at least a century before seeking new things to replace their lost powers. We still haven't gotten our semblances back yet, or obtained the ability to get any semblance, but we have made artificial semblances that are replicated from other people as well as means for detecting and learning what someone's semblance is." It then dawned on Pyrrha that Schneizel not so subtly implying that he knows the secret behind her semblance and how she has won almost every fight she has been in.

"In the years since the creation of the maidens, many have tried to use their powers against the empire. Some have had partial success in forcing the Royal Family to relocate capitals, change the name of the empire and start over, or they might have prevented previous invasions of different kingdoms. Nevertheless, every maiden that voluntarily or were manipulated into standing against us has died. So when you are forced to make your decision by those who have no trust in my kingdom, choose wisely on whether you want us as an enemy or not." Schneizel said as he opened the door for Pyrrha to leave.

"I will keep your story in mind for when I make the decision," Pyrrha said as Cardinal Rolo stood up from his seat.

"Would you please escort Miss Nikos to her seat so that she can enjoy watching the last part of this fight?" Schneizel calmly asked/ordered the Cardinal.

"It would be my pleasure to do so," Rolo said as he escorted the shaken up girl to the rest of team JNPR while ignoring the glare he was getting from Jaune.

 _So will you stay a normal person or gain a power that will make you an enemy of an entire empire?_ Rolo thought as a smug smile appeared on his face that team JNPR couldn't see.

When Rolo finally arrived back at the room where Schneizel was watching the Aigis vs. Sun fight, he noticed a dossier laying on one of the tables.

"I suspect that Mercury Black is an accomplice of the rouge operative. I want you to investigate the warehouse district tonight and bring him in alive. I have a plan in mind for him." Schneizel ordered as Rolo read through the dossier and left the room afterwards in search of his new prey.

* * *

"Ugh, I thought that would do it!" Metis complained as Suzaku slid under Metis' hammer and he tried to slash her but missed as well.

Suzaku's survival semblance was making it to where he was more silent than usual in battle. When he realized that the missed with the sword, he immediately tried slamming the hilt into Metis' back but thanks to Neo Orgia mode, Metis was able to jump out of the way and caught her assailant off guard by disabling the VARIS rifle with a single smash of her hammer.

Suzaku immediately pulled out a second sword and went to work hacking and slashing at his opponent.

Metis received a warning that the cooldown phase of the Neo Orgia mode was about to kick in momentarily and that Metis had only one last shot at preserving her life and potentially Aigis' as well.

In a desperate move, Metis charged forward with the hammer held horizontally and rammed into the assassin with enough force to slam him against the wall. Suzaku tried to struggle against the might of the mechanical girl but the hammer was pressed up against his throat hard enough that he was starting to choke and his hands weren't able to do anything.

Terror struck Metis when everything started to lock up and she was forced to drop the hammer she was choking Suzaku with. The knight quickly pushed her away and readied his swords.

Metis was completely defenseless as Suzaku lunged forward and impaled the robotic maiden in her chest. Metis received numerous critical condition and immenate shut down notifications as her Papillion heart was ran through by the crimson MVS sword.

Metis' last thought after the fell to her knees and the second sword came swinging towards her neck was simply: _I am sorry for everything Aigis, I don't want to leave you._

* * *

Aigis was completely oblivious to her twin's death as she rained down suppressive fire on Sun hoping to keep him from running around. Each time she thought he was stopping for a moment, she would fire her mortar and several missiles at the spot before sending a few clones to take the hits for him while he catches his breathe.

"It looks like Sun is getting worn out while Aigis isn't even breaking a sweat." Professor Port observed as Sun's constant use of clones to protect him was starting to wear him out.

"Come on Sun you just got to keep it up. She doesn't have unlimited ammo like in some of those video games we play." Neptune yelled right before one of the mortar rounds exploded a little too close and knocked Sun off balance.

"Ready! Final Strike!" Aigis yelled as she fired the largest barrage of missiles seen in the Festival so far and all of them came racing towards the tripped over Sun.

Blake turned her head as Sun was enveloped in a giant fireball that didn't look very different than the actual sun and was sent flying way out in the out of bounds area.

"There you have it folks, the first actual winner that didn't get disqualified of the finals, Aigis." Professor Oobleck declared as all of Aigis' fans started to cheer for her and even Lelouch was standing and applauding.

Aigis simply bowed to the audience and rushed out of the arena to tell Metis about her victory while unaware of her twin's fate.

When Aigis was walking down the hallway looking for her sister and the exit to get back up to the seats, she was too distracted to notice that practically all the members of the Black Knights had very faint red rings around the center of their eyes.

* * *

 **Well there you have it folks, the finals have begun and Aigis defeated Sun in their match. Charles actually is dead and wasn't assassinated or anything. I wanted to break away from the trend of Lelouch obtaining the throne by killing Charles or someone else doing the dirty work by giving him a sad but natural death. To those that thought the news was about Cornelia's death, she is still alive in the preview chapter which takes place between one to two years after the Vytal Festival.**

 **I hope Cardin isn't promoted to one of the main characters in the future volumes of RWBY because I um sort of killed him off thanks to Cardinal Rolo who is now going to try and capture Mercury for Schneizel. Speaking of the Second Prince, we finally learn what his, Cornelia, and Lelouch's semblance actually is: absolutely nothing thanks to a hereditary curse. Don't ask how the curse can actually exist and target those in line for the throne.**

 **So until next time, this is Bylackbre signing off.**


	11. Revelations and Retaliations

**So who is ready for the gambit pileup that is this chapter and the next? Schneizel will finally be making his move and Cinder is about to strike as well. Just as episode 9 of RWBY volume 3 sets up a massive battle scene or maybe even the start of a war, this is the ninth chapter not counting the preview of things to come or the timeline that Schneizel confirmed is partially wrong. Well anyway let's get the chapter started.**

 **Disclaimer: No amount of wishing will let me own anything from either Code Geass or RWBY.**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, City of Vale**

It has been a day since Yang Xaio Long got herself and team RWBY disqualified from the Vytal Festival and Aigis defeated Sun in their fight.

General James Ironwood was pacing across Ozpin's office as he waited for Glynda and Qrow to come in the office. When the two finally arrived in the office, Ironwood pressed a few buttons and a map of the entirety of Remnant appeared.

"We need to do something about the Britannians. I have received reports that their Second Fleet has moved from Area 3 to the edge of international waters and the coast of Vale." Ironwood revealed as the map zoomed in to show three large aircraft carriers and their escort ships floating in the ocean beneath a dozen Caerleon class Airships.

"It could possibly just be a training exercise James. The Britannians have been here for weeks without much incident." Ozpin told his fellow headmaster but Qrow just shook his head at the statement made by Beacon's headmaster.

"You say they haven't done much but how many of those recent murders and mysterious deaths have they been responsible for? You have been so focused on Schneizel and their military that very little attention has been paid to the Eleventh Prince or the Cardinal." Qrow said as he took a drink from his flask.

"What are you getting at Qrow?" Glynda asked as she didn't want to admit that the prince was also beneath her suspicion and she was completely unaware of the Cardinal's existence until the speech he gave on behalf of the late Emperor Charles.

"The Cardinal is in on whatever the Prime Minister is planning and while the Eleventh Prince is probably aware, I am not sure he is completely in line with his goal. I say this because a close associate of one of the prince's closest allies was murdered yesterday and revealed to not be human. That is also not taking into account his own past either." Qrow stated as he revealed he knew about Metis' death.

"I wasn't aware you had an interest in Britannian politics Qrow." Ozpin said as he took a sip from his coffee.

"I really wasn't until I learned that it was really their damn Prime Minister was the one to give me the tip on the attack on Amber. I started to dig into the dirt these guys are keeping hidden and I even looked into the death of the Metis girl they tried to hide away yesterday. I called in a few favors last night and learned she is an Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon made to look like a human and was constructed by something called Project Pygmalion." Qrow said as he gave an accusing look at Ironwood who only rubbed his arm.

"Turns out when Atlas helped liberate Mistral from the Britannians all those years ago, they also took a few scientist from the project who failed to escape to the Britannian Homeland in time. It's funny how Ruby keeps talking about how weird Penny sometimes acts so is there something you need to tell us?" Qrow asked only for the general to glare at him in response.

"Penny is a very capable girl that was raised by Atlesian scientists with nothing unusual about her besides a general lack of social skills." Ironwood defended himself as unwanted attention was being directed at him.

"Anyway back to what I was about to say about the prince. When he was around the age of seven, his mother was assassinated with his younger sister become blind and wheelchair bound afterwards. He sought an audience with his father about investigating into the assassination. Instead of helping the grieving boy, his old man sent him away to Area 11 and even had the prince's childhood home torn apart and rebuilt on top of the government building there. A few years after he is exiled from Pendragon, he declares that he has found and executed his mother's assassins but never found the original conspirators." Qrow explained a something dawned within Ozpin's head.

 _So a young child learns about the disappearance/death of his or her mother and wished to investigate. The father essentially abandons them and refuses to help them. The child then takes their younger sibling away to start their own investigation into what happened with the mother and is still searching today. Now are we talking about the prince or Yang Xaio Long?_ Ozpin thought in his head before Glynda came to a realization.

"So what you are thinking is that he is still searching for the conspirators who might be in Vale now?" The head teacher asked the hunter who nodded.

"I suspect that different members of the Royal Imperial Family conspired together to eliminate Marianne that fateful night. If they were all covering for each other and getting rid of any evidence one of their partners might have left behind." Qrow said as Ozpin started to ponder how Yang and Ruby's life would have been different if Taiyang stayed the way he was after Summer's death and Qrow hadn't been around to protect the two children.

"There are too many royals on the Clarent for him to specifically target just one if he hasn't figured out the identity of the conspirators and the guards would stop him as soon as he tried to murder any of them. He would need an army to break into the Clarent and defeat the guards which would be impossible since no Britannian is stupid enough to agree to a plot to massacre a group of royals. Hell the White Fang aren't even that suicidal. My spies in the Britannian Homeland have reported that the Clarent was a top secret project within the military that very few knew about and Prince Lelouch was the one who oversaw the construction of it. So even he should know that there wouldn't be a way to get on and get off without wading through an army of Britannian air force personnel." Ironwood explained only for Qrow to shake his head and took out a few pictures some of his contacts in Pendragon and in the Britannian air force took. "With what's in this box, I suspect he has some kind of weapon that even the Maidens' power couldn't compete against."

A chill colder than the Cardinal's ice semblance ran down Ozpin's spine as he recognized the markings on the box the Cardinal was carrying and as one picture revealed, passing it to the young prince. "That little box contains one of the oldest artificial semblances the Royal Family had developed and was one of the late CC's most dangerous creations. In the wrong hands the contents of that box and do more damage than a hundred of your fleets Ironwood. The Geass of Absolute Obedience can force someone to do anything the bearer wishes no matter how much they want to resist. If he really does have it and wants revenge against his fellow royals, he could easily have them cause their own death or order someone to do it and kill themselves afterwards. I have seen many people before him possess it and each time the victim of the geass had amnesia of the person who gave the order and didn't even remember being given the order." Ozpin revealed as the gears in the three other people in the room started to turn and all ran scenarios of what that power is capable of.

Ironwood pictured someone turning his entire army against him or mind controlling one of their bases into leading an attack on another. Glynda visualized people who were previously peaceful suddenly attacking each other or those trying to protect them without realizing what they were doing.

Qrow however came to a conclusion about what Yang told him earlier. "What if Yang was right and she thought she saw Mercury attack first but was geassed into attacking him after the match ended? Your brain generally wants to fill in holes with sometimes false memories so what if she was geassed into attacking him at the end of the fight. Her memory would have filled the blank spaces with a memory of Mercury attacking her first." _If this is the truth, then she wouldn't be crazy after all and might still be able to compete._

"That just leaves too many questions to be answered. Why would Prince Lelouch pick that specific match to eliminate Mercury from the competition instead of earlier? Why didn't he use it outside of the colosseum on Mercury instead? He might have the motive of avenging what happened to team CFVY but Emerald would be the more likely target since she was the one to specifically cause his fiancé's elimination." Glynda pointed out to the others.

"She has a point Qrow. It is possible that Prince Lelouch geassed Yang but the likelihood that he did it is incredibly low to the point where having a sniper assassinate Mercury from the top of Amity Colosseum would have been more likely. I am sorry Qrow but I am certain that is Yang's mind really was manipulated, it would have been done by someone else." Ozpin said only for a scowl to appear on Qrow's face.

"The world saw what she did and it would take more than that geass to convince them of Yang's innocence so even if it was true, she is staying disqualified." Ironwood told the hunter who slammed his fist down on the table projecting the image of the Britannian fleet hard enough to make the image flicker. "If it was one of your damn relatives would you stand idly behind or use your fleet to 'persuade' the other administrators of the tournament to reinstate them into the games?" Qrow asked the general who was alerted that he was needed and promptly left before he could respond to Qrow.

Glynda looked at her watch and realized she had a class in five minutes and dismissed herself as she left Ozpin and Qrow alone in the former's office.

"I understand how worried you are for Yang but I do have a question I need you to answer for me Qrow. You need to be completely honest when I asked this one question. Are you trying to get Yang back in the finals to defend her honor, or are you doing it for Ruby who needs a strong role model she can look up to since both of her parents can't do the job?" Ozpin asked Qrow with a look that said he was suspicious of Qrow's motives.

"I don't give a fuck about that stupid rumor about me and Summer that has nothing to do with the situation, Yang is innocent and needs to be back in the competition." Qrow said as he angrily started to walk towards the elevator. "I would be prepared if I was you since if the intruder is aware of that Nikos girl's semblance and Penny has some kind of connection to the Project Pygmalion, you can bet she will act at the end of the fight." Qrow warned as the elevator doors opened and he left the headmaster to think on the news and revelations he had made. _He never did confirm if that rumor was true or not._

* * *

 **HMAS Clarent, Vale Airspace**

Admiral Grey had an uneasy feeling about today as he ordered all fifteen of the Caerleon class airships currently in the city to give a status report for the third time that day. _Last time I had a feeling like this, the Grimm nearly overran Area 9 and were barely prevented from causing a massacre._ The admiral's XO returned and reported that all the airships have reported that everything is going normal though a few more Atlesian airships had also arrived since the Atlesian leadership felt nervous.

 _I would bet an entire month's pay that they moved in more forces thanks to Schneizel's idea of placing the Second Fleet right off of Vale's coast._ The admiral was still feeling unsure even with the all clear report from the fleet. "I want you to move to the HMAS Victory and command the fleet from there if something happens and the Clarent is hijacked or attacked." The admiral ordered his XO before going to check on the Royals.

As the admiral walked down the halls of the airship he accidently bumped into one of the engineers that was supposed to be helping in the maintenance of the experimental reactor and the propulsion systems. "Sorry sir," the engineer said as the Admiral got a brief glimpse at the man eyes. His eyes looked slightly bloodshot with the red tint in them but the Admiral dismissed it quickly since he had been ordering those engineers to work triple time to solve that turbulence problem that still hadn't been fixed since the airship was constructed.

The Admiral still dismissed the red eyes thing when he also noticed that the Royal guardsmen outside of the room the Royals mostly stayed in also had the eyes that looked a little more red than normal. _Maybe the guards need to change more often so they can rest and not have such bloodshot eyes._

The guards silently let Admiral Grey into the room and none of the Royals seemed to have paid him attention upon his entry. The Admiral looked around and observed what the Royals were doing.

Princess Euphemia was sitting on a couch with a brown haired boy who looked like he was a native of Area 11 with both of them laughing. Odysseus was talking with Guinevere and while it looked like the two were arguing, it was obvious to the Admiral that the princess was easily winning against her older brother. A few other royals were reading books and magazines while a few were painting or writing with bored expressions on their faces. Carine was refusing to listen to her tutor who was trying to give her a lesson since Guinevere refused to let her ignore her studies.

The door behind the Admiral was opened and Lloyd walked in with a slightly excited look and dragged Suzaku away from Princess Euphemia to do something about testing the new improvement made to the Lancelot.

Seeing that all was well with the Royals, Admiral Grey then decided to return to the bridge of the Clarent to do one final check before the Vytal Festival resumed in a few hours.

When he returned to the bridge, Admiral Grey got a good view of Mountain Glenn and saw the Goliaths moving around much closer to the City of Vale than they were the day before.

"I want our three carriers off the coast ready to deploy bombing runs on the city of Vale if the Grimm attack." Grey ordered the communications officer on the bridge as the later contacted the naval fleet to deliver the Admiral's orders.

 _I don't like wasting more lives than I have to but with the amount of Grimm that could attack the city, I am not taking any chances. Depending on the size of the invasion, hopefully a FLEIJA won't be necessary to deal with the problem._ The Admiral thought as a squadron of Britannian fighter jets flew by the giant airship.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

Yang's day was going absolutely horribly. First her partner didn't believe her about her innocence even when the rest of her team did and even Qrow called her crazy for what she claimed happened. She was so irritated that she didn't notice Sun hanging upside from the window until she turned around and saw him.

"What are you doing here Sun?" Yang said irritably

"What no Monkey boy or Banana man to greet me with?" Sun joked as he dropped down and landed in team RWBY's room.

"I am not really in the mood for that kind of joking around." Yang told her Faunus friend who should have still been recovering from the fight from the day before.

"Here I thought Blake was the brooding one of your team." Sun said as he walked over to of the chairs in the room and sat in it backwards while leaning back on two chair legs.

"What is your relationship with her anyway? Are you two dating or not?" The blond haired girl asked the blond haired boy.

"Well you could say it's something like what Coco and Lelouch has and what Ren and Nora got. In other words it's kind of complicated." Sun told Yang.

"Well I have all day since I am not allowed back on board Amity Colosseum after what happened yesterday. So go ahead and explain."

"Well Ren and Nora are pretty much a couple but both are so far in the friendzone that they don't want to admit that they pretty much are already getting close to being an old married couple." Sun clarified to the only other occupant of the room.

"So what about Lelouch and Coco's relationship? Also since when were you an expert on relationships Mr. Abs?"

"Well you won't believe how often people come to me for advice and how easy it is to read people when they are around someone that they care about. But back to the comparison between my relationship with Blake and the relationship Lelouch and Coco have. Velvet has already told me about how Coco is fiercely loyal to Lelouch and will always be by his side to support him, even if the arranged marriage gets called off or Lelouch falls for someone other than her in the end. Velvet knows quite a bit about her partner's private life since Coco trusts her as a confidant and fears that if she tries and push Lelouch in a certain direction too hard again, she will be pushed away like last time apparently. I don't know what exactly she was talking about though." Sun stated as he explained Coco's side of the relationship based off his observations and discussions with Velvet.

"Lelouch on the other hand seems to be the type to want genuine relationships with those around him but fears that something might happen to them because of his actions. He wants the relationship but seems to be too scared to act in case something happens to Coco and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. So unlike Ren and Nora who already have the relationship but refuse to realize that they are more than just friends, Lelouch and Coco seem to want it but fear if they try it will blow up in their face or accidently hurt the other." Sun explained to the disqualified fighter. "I would put money on their relationship going from friends forced into an arranged marriage into more than just friends that actually are looking forward to the former emperor's plan, but only if one of them took the extra step and admitted their feelings to the other."

"So how is your relationship with Blake like either of those?" Yang said as she started to understand the relationship with the two couples Sun described but was still confused about his relationship with Blake.

"Me and Blake are like Ren and Nora in we are not saying or acknowledging we are a couple despite the fact we kind of already are. I share qualities with Coco in that I am willing to stand by Blake's side and support her in any way possible while she is like Lelouch in that she is afraid that when her past as a member of the White Fang catches up to her, that I might get hurt when it finally happens. In all honesty I am more scared of Blake's dad coming after me for possibly dating Blake than I am of the White Fang." Sun said as he helped Yang partially understand what their relationship was.

"Well I was just asking because she and Weiss went on a Coffee and or Tea date about fifteen minutes ago and I wasn't sure if you knew or not." Yang said shrugging her shoulders.

"Why that little heiress," Sung growled as he bolted out the window and went running to that one noodle stand Blake likes to order a large bowl of fish from.

"I like how Jaune and the others since at least they know we have a door they can come in through unlike Sun and Neptune." Yang said aloud to nobody since she was in the room by herself.

* * *

 **HMAS Clarent, Vale Airspace**

Rolo was just arriving on the airship with a captured Mercury when he was approached by a squad of Black Knights who were wearing their visors.

"Lord Schneizel has ordered Mercury Black to be relocated to a safer facility. He fears that if something was to happen, Mercury might take the Royals hostage." The leader of the squad said as she handed Cardinal Rolo a piece of paper that had what looked like Schneizel's signature on it.

Rolo was too lazy to actually verify whether or not that was actually Schneizel's orders before he released Mercury into their custody. After the Black Knights took the unconscious boy into another shuttle, Rolo moved back into the shuttle he arrived on and ordered the pilot to transport him to Amity colosseum.

When the doors on the shuttle closed, the geassed Black Knight pulled out his scroll and punched in a number that connected him with an encrypted number. "This is Captain Rachel Shipp reporting my lord. Ahab has been secured and will be standing by for when Ishmael is to be captured."

"Stick with the plan and be prepared to move quickly once the plan starts. If you are too slow then this whole section of the operation will be deemed a failure. I am already having the Psychologist, Surgeon, and Engineer relocate to the facility." The synthesized voice said before hanging up.

"Have all units prepared to move when the 'fall from grace' occurs." Captain Rachel Shipp ordered as the geassed pilots took the ship away from the Clarent.

* * *

 **Amity Colosseum, Vale Airspace**

Coco wasn't exactly happy when Lelouch said he was too busy to watch the finals today but he did leave with the rest of team CFVY in tow while ordering Aigis to serve as Coco's bodyguard for the day.

"Why is it that Lelouch is too busy to come watch the matches but isn't busy enough to take my team wherever he went and leave you with me?" Coco asked the mechanical girl as the duo sat down next to Sun who also looked slightly grumpy. _I didn't cause Lelouch to push me away without realizing it did I? I know I did when we were younger but please tell me I didn't do it away._

"Prince Lelouch had a few things to prepare for and left me with you since he cares a lot about you and wanted to keep you safe if something happened."

"What is with the long face Sun?" Coco asked the monkey Faunus once she sat down.

"Weiss managed to drag Blake away to a date of sorts which sort of forced me to come here while she was enjoying herself with Weiss." Sun complained as Coco simply nodded and understood what he meant.

"I know how you feel. Lelouch said he had somethings to take care of but somehow managed to take my entire team without me with him." Coco complained as she noticed Schneizel and Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu were standing in the room reserved for the Royals even though he is the only one who really stays in there anymore.

While Coco, Sun, and Aigis were getting ready for to watch the next fight, Ruby was about to enter the service tunnels to sneak up behind Emerald after coming to a realization concerning Yang's match with Mercury.

When Ruby turned around a corner she came face to face with something she didn't expect. "Mercury what are you doing here? I thought the news said you and the rest of your team went back to Haven?" Ruby asked only for Mercury to start laughing manically.

"What's your problem you little whiny brat? Who the hell do you think you are messing with?" Mercury asked with an odd voice that seemed to reverberate in the tunnel while seemingly being hollow and mechanical at the same time.

"This doesn't make any sense at all. I don't understand how you can walk after what happened between you and Yang." Ruby said as she tried to sidestep Mercury but wasn't able to thanks to him always blocking her path.

"What's the matter? A little stupid brat like you can't get past me?" Mercury laughed as Ruby put a foot behind her and shot forward in a spiral like shot as the fight between Penny and Pyrrha began.

Right as Ruby was about to pass by Mercury, he slammed his fist into her side and caused her to crash into the wall beside him. "Oh are you broken already? The fight has barely just started." Mercury laughed as Ruby fell out of the crater her body made and onto the ground.

"Who are you really? Mercury always attacks with his boots yet you punched me instead." Ruby said as she tried to catch her breath but was kicked down the hall by Mercury.

"So I guess you aren't as stupid as the dumb cape makes you look." Mercury laughed as his appearance started to flicker and a pair of golden eyes formed before the rest of the body became clear to the young huntress in training. "I guess I'll tell you my name before I send you to hell for being such a pain in the ass to everyone. My name is Shadow Labrys."

Ruby watched in horror as Shadow Labrys' shadow started to spread behind her and a large bull looking Grimm thing started to lift its head out of the ground. _What is that thing?_ Ruby thought before enacting emergency plan eight four three seven, she ran like crazy for the exit of the tunnels.

Shadow Labrys launched one of her fist at the young huntress and missed as Ruby ducked underneath the fist and barely avoided flames from the Bull Grimm monster thing. By the time Ruby made it to the exit door, she realized that she wasn't able to get out and Shadow Labrys made her partner disappear. "It's time to die!" Shadow Labrys shouted as she shot her arm at Ruby's head but missed and hit the door instead.

The force of the punch was enough to send the door flying off its hinges and against the farthest wall behind it. This game Ruby the chance to escape and try to stop the fight but arrived just in time to see Pyrrha accidently dismember Penny in an illusion casted by Emerald.

Shadow Labrys just walked out of the tunnel and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder as the huntress started to cry over her friend's apparent death.

"There is nothing more beautiful than the destruction of the bonds between friends." The shadow version of Labrys laughed as she changed her appearance into that of one of the numerous civilians that were having terrified expressions on their face after what they just witnessed.

"It's only through destruction and despair that humanity can break free from the binds that the other stupid humans place on them." Shadow Labrys laughed extremely loud and further driving Ruby into sadness.

"Well I have a job to go do so I will see you later you little brat." Shadow Labrys laughed as she left and blended into the crowd.

Coco was surprised when Aigis looked visibly shook up and started to lock her joints up. _Wait don't tell me the death of another mechanical human is traumatic enough to push her into Shadow mode!?_ Cod thought as the tried to figure out how to prevent her from going into it.

"Listen to me Aigis and pay attention to what I have to say. I know you were trying to hide the sadness that was your sister's death and now that this Penny girl died while revealing that she is just like you. What you need to do is calm down and do the job Lelouch gave you to do. Remember how he said you are to protect me at all costs and let nothing happen to me or those around me? Well I need you to snap out of it and come back to your senses so that me and the others safe." Coco pleaded with the Anti-Grimm suppression weapon to no avail as Aigis went into emergency standby mode.

Right as Coco was about to resort to slapping some sense into Aigis when a mysterious voice started to sound over the intercom.

"So she struck first then? Let's go and take a trip to Beacon Academy." Schneizel said as he and Rolo moved to the transport that Sterling and Shadow Labrys were waiting for them at.

"This was not a tragedy, nor was this an accident either. This is what foolishly happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians and protectors, but are, in reality, nothing more than weak men made of weaknesses." Cinder said over the intercom as the symbol of the Queen Virus covered every screen in the colosseum and even television monitors around remnant. "You people allowed headmasters of the academies to wield more power than most of the military in remnant. One was foolhardy enough to think he could control both."

"Oh and what of the Royal Imperial Family who have all but invaded Vale and for what reason? What Ulterior motive would Schneizel and his siblings have to bring such a large military force if they weren't planning on an invasion or the destruction of Vale? They cling to the power you granted to them in the name of peace and security, yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil while an empire scrambles to keep order in an unofficially conquered area. But what need does Atlas have for a soldier that can be disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference between a real person and a robot." Cinder stated as Schneizel sent a message to Admiral Grey informing the Admiral about how he is in charge of handling the situation.

"I ask you, what is Ozpin teaching his students? First the maiming of a competitor, and then this? Hunters and Huntresses should hold themselves more accountable concerning honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. You would almost think that he is training his students to be the perfect soldiers for the Holy Britannian Empire?" Cinder said as she managed to get under Ozpin's skin. "Maybe Ozpin felt as though humiliating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded her streets and allowed the Britannians to essentially occupy Vale. Honestly, I do not the slightest idea as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct have their business with iron gloves and behind closed doors that you may never learn about."

"I myself is one of the people who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is just as undesirable as it is here. The threat posed by Atlas and Britannia looms over heads and forces us to fear what our past used to be and what our future could become. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war with each other and the empire, yet we, the civilians, are told nothing about it leaving us with nobody to trust in the end." Cinder ended her message which began to loop over the transmissions and cause enough fear for the Grimm to start invading Vale.

* * *

 **Vale Airspace, Vale**

"Amity Garrison please come in. This is Admiral Grey and you are shut off that transmission immediately." Grey ordered the security forces at Amity Colosseum.

"I am sorry sir but the technicians here are unable to break through the hack." The security chief reported much to Grey's annoyance. _The longer this thing stays on the air, the more likely the Grimm are to invade._

"Well you have guns don't you? Destroy the source of the transmission." Grey ordered as several Nevermores landed on the Clarent and started to try and strip the metal exterior of the airship.

"Get as many VTOLs and Flight Enabled Knightmare Frames to defend this ship ASAP!" Grey shouted as he then ordered the helmsman to take the airship back to the Homeland.

"Are we really just abandoning the Caerleons here in Vale to deal with the Grimm and Atlesians? What about Prince Schneizel and Prince Lelouch? They are still down there in Vale and not on board." One of the junior officers asked before being pistol whipped by the Admiral.

"We may be the largest airship ever constructed "We have multiple Royals on board as well as the soon to be emperor. Our priority is to get them to safety and we can't do that in a Grimm invasion with an unarmed ship. We are nothing more than a giant transport ship meant to intimidate our enemies into retreating." Grey said revealing to the junior officer that in a battle, the Clarent is essentially a giant unarmed target.

"All Knightmare Frames have been released and the aircraft carriers have revealed that they have launched the bombers to assist with the Grimm." One of the communications officers stated as the Airship started to shake.

"What the fucking hell is going on now?"

"Sir engineering is reporting an overload in the reactor!" One of the bridge crew members reported seconds before the bomb Lelouch had placed blew up the reactor and destroyed the titanic airship.

Suzaku barely managed to avoid the fireball that was previously the HMAS Clarent but the shockwave was more than enough to knock him out of the sky and crashing down into the city of Vale. Suzaku was lucky in that the debris from the HMAS Willpower or HMAS Vanguard didn't crash into him as they were crash landing in the outskirts of Vale.

"This is Captain Shipp and we are moving to extract Ishmael now." Captain Rachel Shipp reported to Lelouch as her and her team moved to Suzaku with the Clarent still falling from the sky in a massive ball of fire.

When news of the Clarent's destruction would finally arrive in the Homeland, everyone was unanimously in agreement that the death of so many royals and air force personnel was the worst news of the year. Not even Charles death was as depressing as the large number of lives lost in that single moment.

HMAS Harbinger would have sent VTOL crews to attempt search and rescue but a giant nevermore landed on the Caerleon's launch catapult and prevented them from launching anything.

"This is Commander Smith of the HMAS Harbinger, I am trying to send search and rescue for the Clarent and the two lost escorts but I am currently under siege by nevermores." The commander of the airship reported moments before one of the Britannian fighter jets did a strafing run and shredded the Grimm blocking the launch catapult.

Before Commander Smith could divert resources to search for survivors of the tragic explosion, the HMAS Strife along with two Atlesian Airships was shot down by a third airship.

"What the hell are the Atlesian doing? Why are they firing at us in the middle of an invasion by the Grimm?" Commander Jake Bind, Admiral Grey's former XO, said while on board the bridge of the HMAS Victory unaware the Torchwick managed to be broken out of his cell and hijacked the rouge Atlesian airship.

"If the Atlesians continue to shoot at us then target their fleet and ground forces." Commander Bind ordered as several squads of reconnaissance soldiers used laser designators to guide missiles from the Caerleons into the packs of Grimm rushing into the city.

"Sir several nevermores and unidentified Bullheads are moving towards Beacon Academy and Amity Colosseum. I have already sent multiple alerts to our men at Amity but I haven't had any replied. Colonel Locke has his men ready for the Grimm and unidentified bullheads." The new XO of Commander Bind reported as the nevermores were moving too fast to be intercepted by the Victory's railguns.

* * *

 **Amity Colosseum, Vale Airspace**

The technicians were working frantically to stop the loop Cinder had playing around Remnant but the progress was too slow to appease the Britannian soldiers providing security in the colosseum.

"We have nevermores and unidentified bullheads coming in and I need you to hurry up and stop that loop now." The security chief ordered over the radio and the soldiers just raised their rifles.

"Wait we just need a few more minutes." The lead technician pleaded before the soldiers shot him and the other technicians while also shooting all the machinery in the room and managing to stop the transmission.

"Transmission has been dealt with." The squad leader reported as he and the others moved to the landing area to prepare for the uninvited visitors with the other security personnel.

While security was preparing to deal with whatever was in the bullheads, most of the remaining people that didn't leave when the transmission started were still in the seats around the arena.

Aigis was still essentially unconscious when a giant nevermore landed on the top of the shield and started to peck on it to break through the shield.

"Aigis I need you to wake right now. There is a giant nevermore trying to peck its way in here and there are too many civilians still around for the hunters and huntresses to keep everyone safe. Lelouch said that you are an Anti-Grimm Suppression weapon but I am certain that you are more than just a weapon to be pointed at others so that Lelouch or the other royals can claim a victory. You are probably more of a protector than anyone else here and I need you to protect these people like Metis or that Penny girl probably would have." Coco ordered the android who slowly started to reboot as the Giant Nevermore rose in the air and launched a hail of feather at the shield and broke it.

Right before the giant nevermore could cause any more damage to the colosseum, the bird Grimm blew up as Aigis fired a railgun she had at it.

Coco was shocked at the ease with which Aigis destroyed the Grimm with Aigis quickly rushing to the edge of the seating area and jumped to the center of the arena. Aigis then took off her uniform and revealed to everyone around the arena that she too was a robot and got ready for the flock of nevermores to strike.

Coco watched in amazement as Aigis summoned two Gatling guns, and four missile launchers to deal with the flock which were also dropping a few land based Grimm into the colosseum.

"All machines are created for a purpose. Mine is to defeat all of you." Aigis stated as she started to act like a one woman army against the Grimm.

 _So this is the true power of the Seventh Generation Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons._ Coco realized as she watched Aigis beginning her fight with the Grimm.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

Colonel Locke was in a heavy firefight with the White Fang forces that turned out to the owners of the unidentified Bullheads. "We need all the support we can get. All forces within the Beacon Academy Garrison are to hold back the White Fang and kill every last one."

An Atlesian bullhead flew overhead and landed on the other side of the campus much to the colonel's confusion as Adam Taurus continued to lead the White Fang against the garrison.

Things were starting to look bleak for the colonel as his men were starting to fall before his eyes and he was the be the next victim until his attack suddenly stopped and fell in two different parts after Shadow Labrys sliced him in two with her blood soaked axe.

Shadow Labrys continued to laugh and massacre the White Fang while Schneizel and Sterling casually walked towards the garrison commander. Adam traded a few blows with Shadow Labrys until he realized how impossible victory would be and just retreated away from Beacon Academy to fight another day.

"You have done a wonderful job Colonel Locke but I need you to stay here while I go and retrieve something from within Beacon Academy. I will have Labrys, the Knight of Five, and Cardinal Gaeibleu escort me and provide protection. The Cardinal is currently rendezvousing with an OSI infiltration squad who will be providing fire support if we run into any White Fang opposition." The Prime Minister told the Colonel as he and the two with him left to go meet with the Cardinal before heading into the underground area of Beacon Academy where Amber was.

Lelouch was also at the academy at the moment and had just finished making sure Velvet, Fox, and Yastsuhashi were safe secure after he geassed them into going asleep and not waking up for eighteen hours.

Once he was done in their room, Lelouch walked into the hallway where two dozen Black Knight operatives were waiting along with Pishyakan's shield bearing employee that fought Kallen a while back. Also Kallen was waiting in the hallway glaring at the shield wielder who simply ignored her.

"Alright we need to go deep underneath Beacon Academy and stop all of them before it is too late." Lelouch ordered as he and his group started moving to a second entrance to the underground section of Beacon Academy.

* * *

 **So let the battle begin and see whose plan wins the pileup in the end. So yeah turns out Lelouch has been geassing quite a few people behind everyone's back and no Lelouch didn't geass Yang into attacking Mercury, which was all Emerald. What is it that Lelouch has planned for Suzaku and Mercury and why did Captain Rachel Shipp refer to them as Ishmael and Ahab respectfully? Also what significance does the Psychologist, Surgeon, and Engineer have to do with Suzaku and Mercury? Also what exactly is Schneizel's goal for his plan and end goal at the conclusion of all of this? Hey at least we now get the chance to see Aigis go all out on the Grimm and give the Grimm attacking Amity colosseum a fight the Grimm won't forget if they survive the battle with her. Speaking of Aigis, Lelouch has figured out that Schneizel is responsible for Metis' death and that Suzaku was the one who performed the execution. He figured it out after Metis seemingly disappeared and Suzaku wasn't anywhere to be seen at the time of Metis' death.**

 **In other news, So Lelouch ended up destroying the Clarent and killing countless military personnel and members of the Royal Family, including Euphemia, in the process of his plan. But now we will have to wait and see what becomes of everyone and who will survive the end of the Arc since thanks to the efforts of Cinder and Roman making the battle one between Atlas, Britannia, the White Fang, the Grimm, Beacon Academy Administration and Cinder's group. So until next time, this is Bylackbre signing out.**


	12. The End of the Beginning

**Hey guys I am back with the new chapter. I am sorry for the delayed release of this one. I had a lot of papers to read and write this past weeks as well as waiting for the newest episode to possibly confirm how far away from canon this decision I have made actually is. Now that I think back on it, I probably should have split this chapter into two but why not make one really big chapter?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or RWBY**

* * *

 **Vale Streets, Vale**

While the Atlesians were trying to prevent the Britannians from attacking them, despite the Torchwick hijacked Blue 2, neither the Atlesians, nor the Britannians noticed the stealth aircraft flying overhead.

"Don't worry, I will successfully evacuate the target. If I am lucky, they won't even notice he is gone at first. This is Unit 024 signing out and initiating the operation." The stealthy armor wearing girl said into a radio attached to her mask before jumping out of the aircraft and started to plummet down to the city.

A Caerleon class airship moved into her path and quickly calculated what she needed to do. Without missing a beat, she whipped out a shotgun, which was modified to have as much recoil as possible, and fired it away from her and horizontally with the recoil forcing her to fly a few feet in the opposite direction. The girl then started to spiral and missed collision with the Britannian airship by barely a meter.

When she was about to crash to the ground, Winnie activated parachute and crashed through the window of a skyscraper. _The target, codenamed Dolos, is just a few blocks away. I can reach the Beacon Academy without much resistance if I can avoid the Grimm, Atlesians and hunters/huntresses._ Unit 024 thought as she jumped out of the window on the other side of the building.

Instead of crashing through a window like she did with the skyscraper, or trying to land on the roof, Unit 024 pulled out her large broadsword and impaled it into the side of the building. It didn't stop her fall but it served as a good enough anchor to slow her down while the sword caused a giant tear in the side of the building.

In a single smooth motion, unit 024 pulled her broadsword out of the wall and sliced a creep in half. She quickly avoided a deathstalker stinger and plunged her sword into a beowolf that tried to attack her from behind. _With the number of Grimm around here, I am probably going to have a twenty five minute delay if I factor Atlesian resistance and the huntsmen stalling me._ Seeing about five deathstalkers crawling towards her, Unit 024 pulled out a homing beacon and it attached itself to the front deathstalker.

Several drone bombers picked up the signal from the beacon and started to move to Unit 024's location to start a bombing run on the deathstalkers. Due to the close range superiority the Grimm have over the Britannians thanks to their rejections of huntsmen, the empire had created a doctrine to combat the Grimm at a distance instead of up close and personal. The result of this doctrine were the long range weapons on the Knightmare frames as well as bombers that would automatically target the Grimm and eliminate them. Only downside to these bombers were that while they made sure not to cause Britannian casualties, the other kingdoms weren't give such luxury in the bombing runs.

Unit 024 watched as the smart bombs were released from the sky and impacted the Grimm around her. The Grimm were falling apart with limbs flying in every which direction before disintegrating like they always do. When the bombers came around for a second bombing run, their bombs never touched the ground. Before the bombs were to impact the streets, Glynda stopped them and then had them harmlessly crash into each other. Right as Glynda stopped the second bombing run around Unit 024, Qrow approached the girl with his own sword already drawn and ready to attack.

"So you must be one of Britannia's infiltrators and a product of project Pygmalion? I can tell because Aigis refers to Labrys as her sister and you have the same headband as Labrys." The normally drunk but now completely sober hunter said as he blocked Unit 024's path to Beacon Academy. "My headband's design is slightly different than my beloved sister's though my quarrel is not with you. My orders were to extract Dolos from Beacon Academy before something happens to him and not to let anything stand in my way live."

"Well it seems like we are going to have a conflict of interest there. I have seen what you sister can do to other people, don't expect me to go easy on you." Qrow told the younger girl. "Glynda I need you to take care of the Grimm and those bombs while I deal with her." Qrow swung at Unit 024 but missed as she managed to duck out of the weapon's path. As Qrow came in for another strike, Unit 024 parried the greatsword with her broadsword.

"I have already died once, it's going to take a lot more than a single hunter to put me back down." The fifth generation Anti-Grimm suppression weapon said as she used her new Seventh generation body to counter Qrow. _I miss how much my old body could take and deal,_ Unit 024 thought as her new body started to strain a little under the force of Qrow's sword. The fifth generation was built for fighting each other and therefore had more durability and strength compared to the seventh generation that was mostly focused on eliminating Grimm by being fast enough to evade them.

 _I am going to have to adjust my strategy against him,_ Unit 024 thought as she strained to block another of Qrow's strike. Qrow was put on the defensive when Unit 024 activated the thrusters on her sword forcing the older man off his balance and on his back a few feet away thanks to a well-placed kick. When her body was being repaired by codename: Dolas, they found her old sword and repaired it for her to use in her new body.

"I'll admit, that was a pretty good hit." Qrow complimented as Unit 024 went for another rocket propelled sword swing. Qrow swung his own sword in such an angle that the Unit 024's carved a line in the ground instead of in Qrow.

Even though Unit 024 should have had the advantage thanks to her robotic body, she was kept in the equivalent of sleep mode for computers for several months and hasn't really adjusted to her seventh generation body completely. This meant that she wasn't able to strike with as much skill as she had before her first death and the rockets in her sword were the only reason she was standing on a partially balanced playing field with Qrow. It was when Qrow started to transform his sword into a scythe that she realized that she was only stalling her inevitable defeat and needed to leave if she was to complete the mission.

 _Let's see what the orgia mode for the seventh generation is like,_ the older Anti-Grimm suppression weapon thought as she activated the special ability and Glyda decided to throw some of the bombs towards Unit 024 to provide support for Qrow.

Unit 024 was damaged by the first bomb but still had enough fight in her to kick the second bomb into a building and actually intercept the third one by throwing it at Qrow. Glynda blocked the bomb but was thrown to the side when Unit 024 threw a fourth one right at the Beacon Academy instructor. Qrow went to help Glynda but when he decided that it was time to finish Unit 024, he couldn't see her anywhere. He would have given chase to where she might have gone but Glynda needed to be back on her feet and a massive horde of Grimm were charging towards them.

Unit 024 wasn't actually that far away but rather hiding in a building along the street so that she could recover from the orgia mode cooldown. _I may have been part of the generation that was infamous for having to kill one another, but a few more minutes against him would have possibly killed me. I just have to recover and then rescue Dolos from the vault before codename: Mendacius can kill him._

Once Unit 024 had fully recovered from orgia mode's cooldown, she stealthy made her way to Beacon Academy while examining blueprints of the school in her memory processor.

* * *

As Qrow and Glynda continued their defense against the Grimm, several Knightmare divisions were trying to hold the Grimm back away from the main residential areas of Vale. While it would have left Vale easier to be invaded if Britannia allowed it to be weakened greatly by the attack, it would also make the kingdom easy prey for Atlas to invade and annex as well. The Britannians were able to hold the line against the Grimm momentarily thanks to the air support from the Caerleons, the drone bombers, and their own knightmares though the first two were slowly being depleted.

"Second squad is to cover the right flank." The 4th Battalion commander ordered as the Grimm rejuvenated their assault and a goliath was approaching the right flank. "If we fall here, who knows how much time the rest of the military will lose to secure everyone." The second squad moved behind the barricade that was established as the right flank and fired several unguided missiles into the Grimm the goliath started to get too close for comfort.

Several infantry squads moved into the buildings behind the right flank and using laser designators, lit up the goliath on the drone bombers' radar as several drones moved into a position to start a bombing run. While the bombers did their job of preventing that goliath of breaking through and also eliminated a large number of grimm that were sieging the flank, it did nothing to stop the two older goliaths that started to cause a stampede for the right flank.

Knightmare frames are good during times of war but when several ton goliaths that are taller than the machine you are in come stampeding, your only options are escape or be crushed. That is why one of the first responses all Britannian soldiers are trained when confronting Grimm is to target all the heavy weapons, artillery, and airstrikes at the large Gimm like goliaths instead of at beowolves or creeps.

When news hit that the right flank had been routed, reports that the left and center flank were also being picked apart and what had previous been three unified flanks holding the Grimm back were instead becoming mini skirmishes against a near endless enemy. "We have withstood worse horrors than this! Hold the line, damn you. You will not embarrass the empire today by dying!" The battalion commander declared to his men that were listening. "Rally to me men and we will show these Grimm that rather than they be the ones who are feared, they will learn to fear us instead!"

As the remaining forces that were defending the outskirts of that part of the city rallied together around the commander, the legend of the Grimm Knightmares was born. Once they were all gathered together, the Grimm Knightmares formed ranks and charged right into the while not caring about how many of their brethren were lost. The reason they cared not for the numbers that fell were because the Grimm Knightmares pressed forward against the pack so that the forces of the Grimm will be the ones who were broken instead of them.

The men and women of this battalion fought with reckless abandon as claw clashed with lances, flamethrowers incinerated fangs, and talons were met with targeted missiles. When one Knightmare frame would run out of bullets, they would just salvage the weapon of a fallen knight and when there weren't any available ammunition for the weapons, it would switch to melee mode and smash the Grimm while ignoring any damage done to them.

Though the Britannians defenders would suffer many loses by the end of this conflict, the Grimm Knightmares will come out intact with a legendary reputation. The claw marks in their Sutherlands and Glouchesters were kept and after the reign of Charles' successor was over, they would finally get permission to repaint the Knightmare Frames to look more like the Grimm they were famous for defending against and slaughtering. These men and women became the visible embodiment of Britannia's will to never fall before the Grimm.

* * *

In a different section of the city from where the Grimm Knightmares or the two teachers were, a company of Britannian infantry were being supported by Atlesian knights model 210 while holding one of the largest bridges that led into the city. "We can't let these tin cans outperform us boys." The leader of the company said as mortar shells rained down on Grimm being funneled across the bridge.

Just as the Atlesian knights were forming a defensive line in front of the Britannians, several Knightmare Frame mounted Artillery Cannons started to rain fire down on the Grimm trying to cross the bridge. _Thank Dusts that bridges like that were designed to withstand anything short of a FLEIJA._ The company commander thought as she witnessed a deathstalker had a shell fall directly on top of its exoskeleton and explode.

"We need to buy the engineers some more time! Don't give the Grimm a second to catch their breathes." The commander ordered as her soldiers continued to fire into the mob of Grimm while engineers were wiring claymores and mines to explode among the Grimm while the rest of the engineers were moving abandoned cars to form a barricade of sorts for the regular infantry to shoot at the Grimm from behind of. Snipers were picking off some of the older and more dangerous Grimm that were trying to cross on the other side of the bridge before they could spell trouble for the other defenders.

More than one of the engineers weren't paying attention as a pack of beowolves surged past their defenses and started to attack them. One engineer managed to pull out a standard issue Britannian semiautomatic pistol but it was swiped away, along with that hand, and the claws of the Grimm impaled the man's chest causing him to quickly bleed to death. Another engineer didn't move fast enough and had his head bit off along with some of his upper torso also leaving the rest of him. Less than a handful got to safety and avoided the fate of their brethren who were either massacred by the Grimm or shredded by the heavy machines that were ordered to shoot into the escaping soldiers and Grimm.

"Incoming nevermore flock!" One of the soldiers reported as a few Britannians grabbed the surface to air missiles and fired them at the incoming nevermores. They would have used the air defense turrets but some of the technicians were still in the process of fixing it after a few creeps broke through the line earlier and damaged the systems. One of the nevermores got lucky before he died in that one of his feathers pierced the tank on the back of one of the flamethrower soldiers and caused a small explosion killing him and about seven other people around him.

"Hold your ground! Victory's within our reach! Be strong!" Claudio Darlton of the Glaston Knights ordered as the elite Knightmare Frame group arrived to provide support for the defenders of the bridge.

"The Atlesian knights are the first line of defense and will hopefully hold off the Grimm long enough to set up a secure defensive position. Our Lightning Cannon is currently charging up and will be fired down the bridge as soon as she is ready and will be used to hold this bridge." The commander explained to the Glaston Knights as the four Glasgow Knightmare Frames that were transformed into an experimental railgun/shotgun hybrid was moved to the Britannian end of the bridge and started to finish the last part of the firing preparations.

The Lightning Cannon was generally considered an outdated siege engine that wouldn't be suitable for a more modern battlefield environment but this bridge and the Grimm were the perfect scenario for this weapon platform's true beauty. "Super electromagnetic shrapnel cannon is now firing." The gunner of the Lightning Cannon reported as it unleased its first shell of that battle. The 'shell' in question was really a large container that would break up midflight and release dozens of heavy metal balls moving at speeds that easily pierce through the toughest hide or the most durable metal known to Remnant.

Everyone quickly got into a defensive position as they noticed a majority of the Atlesian Knights were wiped out alongside the Grimm on the bridge. "Hold the Grimm back long enough for the Lightning Cannon to fire again. We can't let them break through and destroy the cannon." The commander ordered as she picked up a grenade launcher and fired a few grenades into the incoming Grimm.

The Self-Propelled Knightmare Frame Artillery Guns continued to fire into the mob of Grimm as the Glaston Knights softened up the survivors with their rocket pods enough for the Britannian infantry to pick the surviving Grimm off. If a Grimm got too close to the barricade made with cars, a few engineers that were behind the cars would unlease their flamethrowers on the Grimm in hopes of leaving them as a charred corpse before disappearing like usual.

One of the Britannian VTOL helicopters tried to provide suppressive fire but while it did do a serious number on the Grimm forces along the bridge, a group of beowolves eventually managed to jump onto the aircraft forcing it to crash somewhere beneath the bridge in a large fireball.

"There goes our air support unless the bird brains in the air force can loan us some of those drone bombers." The commander lamented as she switched from a standard issue grenade launcher to one of a handful of prototype grenade machineguns Lelouch managed to supply to the defense forces. _Let's see how badly this baby can screw up the Grimms' day._

Meanwhile Gino and Anya were busy preventing any Grimm from damaging or destroying the CCT. The Tristan and Mordred were than enough to handle any Grimm threat that came charging towards the tower.

* * *

 **Vale Airspace, Vale**

Commander Bind was giving an order to a Caerleon right as it was being targeted by Torchwick. "Damn those Atlesians for figuring out a way to overload the Blaze Luminous shielding." Commander Bind shouted as he slammed his fist down in anger at losing another Caerleon airship. "Have all aircraft focus on that airship before it can target any more of our ships or Amity Colosseum."

Torchwick was being strategic in his moves to take the sky for Cinder's forces when he kept targeting whichever Atlesian airship was placed in command with the occasional Caerleon being shot down as well. "This was so much more fun when Neo was here." Roman noted right before a few Britannian drone bombers targeted his ship.

"Don't you dare punch holes in my ship." Roman said as he activated the point defense system and shot the drones down before they released the bombs. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Let's end this now you mutinous Atlesian." Commander Bind said as if he was talking to Torchwick even though he didn't know that it was the famous terrorist piloting the airship. As the HMAS Victory was turning to begin its battle with the hijacked Atlesian Airship, Commander Bind was trying to figure out how an entire crew of Atlesians could go rouge like this. Knowing that those airships needed a little bit of time to recharge the lasers, Bind ordered a missile barrage to be fired at Torchwick's airship before charging up the railgun.

"Oh so a little overconfident ship thinks it can take me on? Let's see how big your guns actually are." Roman said to himself as his point defense system shot the missiles out of the sky. "How do you like me now?" Roman joked as he charged up the lasers and fired at the only Caerleon taking him on at the moment.

"All power to the shields immediately!" Commander Bind ordered with just enough time to power up the shields enough to withstand the laser blasts. "Now fire the railguns at the rouge airship."

"So that's how big your guns are," Roman scowled as he avoid all but one of the railgun shots. The force of the impact was enough to severely weaken the hull around the impact area and rotate the airship almost ninety degrees before correcting itself. "Alright I am done playing around."

"Focus all firepower on the lasers. Even if he manages to shoot us out of the sky, at least we can save the rest of the fleet from that Atlesian laser cannon." Commander Bind ordered after giving the declaration for all power to be diverted to the shields again to survive the next barrage from Roman.

Roman was used to the Caerleons being able to withstand one barrage from the lasers before the shields being depleted and the ship ultimately defeated but wasn't expecting the HMAS Victory withstood a second barrage while her shields were still active. "So you aren't an amateur then, well neither am I." Roman then prepared the cannons to fire what he hoped will be one last barrage

Roman was right in that this would be the final barrage, but the HMAS Victory would be the one taking the shot. Commander Bind waited and fired the barrage the moment all five gunners confirmed that they were locked onto Torchwick's ship. "Show him and the Atlesians how we deal with mutiny." All five cannons fired at once and while it didn't cause the airship to explode like the commander was hoping it would, it did start to rapidly fall towards territory the Grimm had overtaken.

Torchwick managed to play it safe and activated Cinder's queen virus in the newer model of the Atlesian Knights before escaping inn an escape pod.

Just as the crew were starting to celebrate the defeat of the rouge airship, the holographic screen activated and Prince Clovis appeared before the crew. "I am told this is the ship being commanded by Jake Bind."

"You are correct Prince Clovis, I am Commander Jake Bind, former Executive Officer of Admiral Marcus Grey." Commander Bind said while saluting the Third Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire.

"I am about to be coronated as emperor in less than fifteen minutes but after hearing about our forces in Vale being led by a commander, I decided to properly promote you to the rank of Rear Admiral. You are to continue the operation and send back any of my surviving siblings to the homeland before the fleet if they are found before the Grimm problem is handled. Do you understand Rear Admiral?" Soon-to-be-emperor Clovis ordered before cutting off the communications.

"This is Rear Admiral Jake Bind ordering all forces to focus on the pushing back of the Grimm. The Atlesians are currently in disarray and are unreliable so do not feel dismayed if they are among the casualties." Read Admiral Bind ordered as the remnants of the Atlesian Fleet tried to reorganize after Torchwick's attack on them.

* * *

 **Amity Colosseum, Vale Airspace**

While Rear Admiral Bind was taking control of the sky and the Britannian military were trying to hold the Grimm back from the city but failing in multiple locations thanks to the Queen Virus and Grimm, Aigis was handling the Grimm trying to attack the colosseum from the arena. Aigis was in the very center of the arena and trying to shoot down any and every nevermore that flew overhead while her mortar automatically fired at any ground based Grimm that past her barrage of Gatling cannon fire.

"All Grimm threats must be eliminated." Aigis monotony said as a rocket barrage from her tore apart a few boarbatusks and creeps. Aigis then turned her Gatling cannon towards three nevermores and cut them apart like Coco did during the previous Grimm invasion that was more like a skirmish compared to what was happening now.

Speaking of the fashionista, Coco Adel was working with several other hunters and huntresses in training to evacuate the civilians and students who didn't bring their weapons. "Get to the transports now!" Coco yelled only for a small crowd of them to come running back to where she was trying to get people away from.

Confused as to why the civilians were running towards a dangerous area instead of away from it, Coco led Ren and Sun to where the civilians just ran from and the fashionista almost had three new scars on her stomach.

Standing there and barely missing the young Britannian noblewoman was a large Ursa that once again came in for another strike against Coco. "Didn't I kill you guys already a few weeks ago," Coco asked as she swiped away the next strike with her minigun purse.

When the Ursa came to deliver another swing of its claw, Coco slammed her purse into it hard enough that the beast stumbled back and almost fell on top of another Ursa. Sun finished the two off by kicking them with enough force for them to fall out of Amity Colosseum. They didn't die by crashing into the ground but rather, the two ursai smashed onto the hull of the HMAS Harbinger and the dead Grimm just rolled off the dented airship.

While Coco and Sun were handling the ursai that the White Fang managed to smuggle past the Britannian and Atlesian security forces, Ren was attempting to escort the civilians to safety when he noticed a creep dragging a small child away by his foot and into a large group of Grimm. Realizing that the civilians were close enough that they should be able to make it to the transports, Ren pulled out his weapons and charged after the lost child.

Ren sprayed the beowolves and peppered the other creeps as he charged after the taken kid. _Don't worry kid, I am on my way._ Ren quickly dodged a claw from a beowolf and shot it several times with the submachine guns before stomping on a creep's head and continuing his pursuit. _Even if I get overran but this child makes it out alive, then this won't be all for nothing._

Ren had finally almost reached the kid when an ursa major blocked his path. Not wasting a moment in his attempt to save the child's life, Ren channeled his aura and blasted a large hole through the monster's chest in one punch. The ursa major collapsed like a ton of bricks and fell on top of the kidnapping creep. Right as Ren was leaning over to pick up the terrified child, the child screamed and pointed behind Ren where another ursa major was about to kill him. Ren had enough time to cover the young child's eyes from Ren's eventual death but it never came.

The large claw stopped mere millimeters from cutting into Ren's face. Sticking out of chest of the Grimm's chest was an antique sword that quickly carved its way upward and out of the beast's body. "We have to get out of here Ren," Jaune said as he supported Pyrrha with one arm and held his sword in the other. Pyrrha was only being supported by Jaune because she had yet to snap out of the shock of actually killing someone by accident and was really doubting whether or not she was supposed to be the Fall maiden anymore. Normally she would still be able to fight but she was too shook up at the moment to fight without putting herself at risk. This was just a temporary thing that she would quickly get over once she got a moment to rest and collect her thoughts.

Nora smashed a creep through the floor as Ren placed the child on his back and started to run through the mob of Grimm. To make sure that they can make it to safety, Nora loaded a special grenade that was design to obscure the Grimms' senses and prevent them from tracking team JNPR. By the time they had actually made it back to the others, the last of the Grimm and White Fang around the shuttles were being dealt with.

Jaune was surprised to see Britannian soldiers listening to General Ironwood's orders as they laid down a field of suppressive fire to keep the Grimm back while the students that did have weapons were currently battling the White Fang. The civilians were rushing for the ships and any Grimm that tried to stop the civilians were quickly shot dead by Ironwood's pistol.

Right before the civilians could go aboard the shuttles however, a larger than normal giant nevermore launched its feathers at the shuttles which destroyed them and left everyone stranded in Amity Colosseum. Coco and the other huntsmen managed to kill the massive nevermore but the shuttles were still beyond repair.

"Our troop transports do not have enough space to transport everyone to safety. We are also supposed to deal with these White Fang prisoners before we leave." The Britannian in charge of security at Amity Colosseum reported as his men marched away from everyone else by their soon to be firing squads. "So unless you have some bullheads you are certain do not contain Grimm or White Fang members, you need to think up a solution."

Ironwood thought for a minute but came to an idea after one of his airships shot a White Fang bullhead out of the sky with its lasers. "Alright everyone I am going to need this entire area cleared out because we are going to have something a tad bit bigger than a bullhead take you all to a safe area outside the city." General Ironwood said as he sent a signal to Blue Eight to initiate an emergency transport loading at the landing area in Amity Colosseum.

"What are we supposed to do if we want to help out on the ground?" Jaune asked as the leaders of the other teams that competed in the tournament stood there and nodded in agreement.

"The city is being swarmed with Grimm and I am losing men left and right. I have heard reports of entire Britannian squads being overran or just disappearing with Grimm being where they were supposed to be." Ironwood said as crew of Blue Eight started to calculate how exactly to carry out the general's orders.

"As I see it, both from the viewpoint of a general and a headmaster, you can either go into the city and try to protect it along with the kingdom, or you go with the civilians and safe yourself from the war that is happening on the surface." General Ironwood said as he walked away to contact Ozpin and Blue Eight started to move towards the colosseum to pick up the evacuees. "I am going to save Vale and Beacon Academy," Ruby said adamantly as she stepped forward to fight the Grimm threat.

"Some of us decided to become hunters and huntresses for the sake of glory, others for the money and rewards given to them. There are people who become one for the sake of continuing a family tradition while others feel like that is the only way to bring a purpose to their life. I for one became a huntress to protect those that need saving from the Grimm and other threats. Right now my school and kingdom is burning to the ground and I refuse to stand around and do nothing while there is people to be saved." Ruby declared as she stared down her fellow students daring them to follow her in saving the city.

Nobody moved at first but Arslan walked forward and stood behind the younger huntress. "I may have fought against you in the past but I would be proud to fight alongside such a honorable person." Arslan spoke as her team quickly followed her over.

Team JNPR quickly stood behind Ruby and gave her a nod of support as more of the teams followed suit and got ready to fight the Grimm below.

"It seems that you were right in that the students are ready for the fight. I know you have a lot of faith in them and Ruby has won my respect so I will let her know her mission from you." Ironwood told the headmaster of Beacon Academy before hanging up to help guide civilians on board the airship that was barely saying in place long enough for them to board the ramp. On his way to assist the loading, Ironwood made one more additional call to someone on a different airship at the moment.

"I need you to reactivate the old Atlesian 130s and have the androids assist in the defense of the city." Ironwood ordered Winter Schnee as the later walked to a terminal and started to work on the mass reactivation protocol. _I pray this is more than enough support for the students and that they also haven't been corrupted._

Before the students could follow the civilians on board the airship that was too large for the landing zone, Ironwood stopped them and had the Britannian security leader come over to him. "I need you to transport these students down to the city so they can tip the scale of the battle and save the city."

"I am sorry General Ironwood but I need those transport to get my own men out of here and I can't risk abaondoning them here if something happened to those ships."

Ironwood moved himself between the students and the Britannian officer and pressed his pistol to the bottom of the officer's neck but at an angle where the students couldn't see how Ironwood was persuading the officer. "I hear that in your military that superior officers have permission to order their subordinates' execution if the disobey an order and it looks like I am the highest ranking officer here."

"On second thought, I will allow you to temporarily borrow our ships if you can ensure me that you will return them here for our own evacuation." The officer said since he didn't feel like allowing Ironwood to rid the empire of one less officer.

"Alright let's go people, the city isn't going to get saved if we just stand around and do nothing." Ironwood ordered the students as everyone followed the Britannian officer to the transports. "Miss Rose I need to speak with you privately in one of the transports." General Ironwood said as he motioned for Ruby to follow him onto one of the transports.

By the time that Ruby got on the transport, Ironwood had already ordered the pilot to take them to the fairgrounds to pick up Blake and Weiss before he headed back to his seat. "So what did you need General?"

"I spoke with Ozpin and he needs your team back at Beacon to stop the one that caused all of this madness. He is certain that your team will be able to provide the victory that my army can't." Ironwood grudgingly admitted before explaining to Ruby about the vault beneath the academy and how her team is to stop the people down there from getting to 'the girl.'

* * *

Coco watched as the Britannian troop transports took the students to the battlefield while she was the only student to stay behind. It wasn't that she was a coward and didn't want to fight the Grimm but she had something else she needed to take care of before helping down in the streets or wherever Lelouch needed help. So as the transports and the Atlesian airship was moving away from Amity Colosseum, Coco Adel was moving deeper into the flying superstructure towards the arena.

Despite all of her weaponry and purpose as an Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon, there was a limit to how many opponents Aigis could handle at a single moment and the number of Grimm in the arena was growing by the second. In fact Aigis was struggling to keep track of where each monster actually was. All Aigis knew was that she alone on what was essentially an island in the middle of a sea of Grimm.

 _I cannot allow this to be the end of my life story. I am not done protecting everyone and avenging Metis._ Aigis thought as she looked around at the Grimm that had her surrounded from all angles. Aigis was about to start clearing them out of the seats with the Gatling cannon but an internal notification informed her that the gun was empty and need some time to recharge the ammunition. The mechanical maiden braced herself for the inevitable but was as confused as the Grimm when an odd noise started to come from one of the doors.

Before anything could start to guess what the noise was, the door exploded with shrapnel and bullets as Coco not only shredded the door but also the Grimm that were standing in front of it. "I figured you could use some help and would have come to my rescue if I was in your fake shoes."

Relief filled Aigis as she used a variety of weapons to clear a path for Coco to her. Coco just had a somewhat slow stride as her bullets made short work out of any Grimm that tried to get close to her with enough efficiency that Aigis detected a slow but steady drop in their numbers.

"I hope you have a landing strategy because the last transport off this place has already left a few minutes ago and I don't think a taxi will help with being this high up in the air." Coco said as she finally reached Aigis who was using the guns in her fingertips to kill a few ursai.

"I intercepted a message that the Avalon has been ordered by Lord Schneizel to come and provide support. I was going to send a message to them to provide a transport off." Aigis revealed while hiding her worries about Lelouch and Coco's safety since the Avalon was Schneizel's personal airship.

"Well it sounds like a good idea to me. So let's finish these guys off first." Coco said as her minigun started to cut through the Grimm in the seats while Aigis killed any of the Grimm that managed to get out of the seats and into the arena.

"Do you still have the copy of my weapon I had you create but with some slight modifications?" Coco asked as Aigis nodded and fired her recharged Gatling cannon into the crowd like Coco.

"Well I am running a little low on ammo right now and this seems like the perfect scenario to finally test it out." Coco told Lelouch's bodyguard who summoned an exact copy of Coco's minigun but with heavy duty barbed wire wrapped around the barrels with multiple bayonets at the end. "Let's get dangerous Aigis."

The Grimm were taken by surprise when Aigis wrapped her arm around Coco's waist and held her as she jumped into the mob of Grimm and started to quickly shred right through them. Aigis was using her massive arsenal of weapons to carve a hole in the number of Grimm in the arena while Coco was literally carving right through the Grimm and killing them as if her weapon was cutting through air instead of monsters.

It was a massive battle with one side consisting of two girls who had technology and training at their disposal as well as powerful weapons, versus hundreds of Grimm who were out for their blood. "This is going to be a fun fight." Coco remarked as Aigis started to charge the Paladion cannon. The beowolves, creeps, ursai, and griffons weren't fazed by the duo and continuously charged forward.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

By the time Ruby, Weiss and Blake had gotten off the transport and started to look for Yang, Schneizel's little group had already found an entrance to the Vault and was moving towards the first obstacle that they would have to face.

"I figured you would try and stop me Schneizel. That's why I made sure to have superior numbers to ensure you die like any other man would." Cinder said as Schneizel's entourage caught up to her, Neo, Emerald and about two dozen White Fang elites. The only reason she was down in the vault this soon in their 'game' was because almost every plan she had up until this point was already completed or failed thanks to someone's actions.

"If you couldn't beat me while we were dating and before you defected, why did you think you stood a chance with me as an enemy?" Schneizel asked as the OSI operatives uncloaked themselves and shot all the White Fang operatives in the head at point blank range. "I tried to warn you after I learned of your defection that I am the most dangerous person to have as an enemy and now you will know the cost of betraying me."

"You that is a show of power Schneizel? This is real power," Cinder said as she used the fragment of the Fall maiden's power that she had to incinerate the OSI operatives. Sterling watched in horror as the operatives were screaming in pain as their uniforms and skin was set ablaze and they were reduced to a pile of ashes. "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust." Cinder mockingly said as she scattered the ashes using winds she created before sending a lightning bolt at the Second Prince.

Rolo managed to counter the bolt of lightning by conjuring a massive wall of ice to block the attack. Cinder was taken aback by the speed of which the wall was created but recovered in time to block Sterling's bullets after he ran around the wall and started to shoot at all three girls. Emerald returned fire with her pistol and the two gunslingers then started their fight amongst a group of pillars.

"So that's the bounty hunter's idea of a first strike? This is how you do a first strike you stupid old man." Shadow Labrys said as she placed her axe onto her back in such a way that it looked like wings and then used the thrusters to shoot forward at a high speed. Right before she impacted the wall of ice, Shadow Labrys reared her fist back and launched a punch powerful enough to shatter the wall and send the fragments right towards Cinder. Cinder melted the ice but got a knee to the gut in response. "I guess the Fall maiden's power didn't make you any faster," the mechanical girl retorted as she dodged the flames Cinder sent her.

Despite performing the role of executioner incredibly well, Rolo decided to ensure the Prime Minister's protection by creating a massive and nearly impenetrable barrier of ice around Schneizel while Rolo started to hunt Neo. Rolo figured out very quickly that Neo had the close quarter combat advantage as Rolo was barely able keep a grip on his staff as Neo unleashed a flurry of strikes with her umbrella. Rolo's usual tactic against nimble fighters by freezing their feet so that it's much heavier backfired when Neo slammed her frozen foot into the Cardinal's side making him fall over in pain.

While it looked like Neo was winning her fight against Rolo, Emerald was barely avoiding the bullets from the Knight of Five. Emerald lost count of the number of illusions she had that were 'killed' almost as soon as she created them to hide herself. _So this is the true power of the Very Accurate Targeting Semblance?_ The thief thought this as she fired a few rounds at the gunslinger who was currently using just one but still fanning the revolver's hammer to increase the fire rate.

Sterling noticed a slight shift of dust and figured that was where Emerald really was. "I hear you are a pretty good dancer, let's see if the rumor is true." Emerald realized too late what he meant when pulled his other revolver out and stepped out cover with the pistols aimed at where Emerald stood invisibly. _He can't possibly know I am here?_ Emerald thought as she created an illusion of her about twelve feet away and preparing to shoot the knight who didn't notice the illusion or ignored it. Well Emerald got her answer of if he knew she was there when one of the bullets grazed her foot and ten more bullets followed it.

The pain of having her foot grazed by an aura piercing bullet was enough to make her shout in pain as she lost her concentration. Sterling watched her 'dance' to avoid the bullets before using his semblance to target what he figured was her dominant shoulder and fired. If Emerald thought she was in pain before, then this must have felt like hell with the bullet luckily going right through the shoulder without breaking the shoulder.

Emerald was panting heavily as Sterling holstered his weapons so that they could be automatically reloaded. "I'll admit you impressed me with your illusions. I didn't know you were the one that made Yang attack mercury until I saw you try to use the illusion on me. My semblance couldn't see you when you hid yourself but could perfectly target the clones." Sterling noted as he was caught off guard with Emerald catching his foot in chains.

 _Shit,_ the Knight of Five thought as he fumbled with his pistols to shoot the chain Emerald was dragging him with but kept missing. Sterling was put on the defensive as Emerald came at him with slashes that proved the aging gunslinger was possibly even worse than Rolo at close range combat. _I should have shot the other shoulder instead._

While Rolo was barely able to hold his own and Emerald had turned the tables after nearly being beated, Shadow Labrys was loving the fact that she was actually facing an opponent that could ALMOST beat her. If Shadow Labrys had to define which of seven deadly sins she suffered from, she would proudly declare wrath and pride with both factoring into the reason she was certain that Cinder didn't stand a chance of winning.

"Isn't that damn maiden power supposed to make you into some kind of super solider or godlike being?" Shadow Labrys thought aloud as she punched the woman in the gut and roundhouse kick her in the head. When she recovered from the kick, Cinder materialized two swords and started to slash at her opponent. "Oh so now we are going to stop with the fisticuffs? I was just starting to enjoy punching and kicking the shit out of you." Shadow Labrys laughed as she removed her ax from her back and readied it.

Cinder ignored the taunt and just set her swords on fire in hopes that it would do more damage to Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon. "I always heard about you having a pretty hot body but those attacks are just hot!" Shadow Labrys laughed even though sensors were telling her that prolonged engagement with the flaming weapons could put her at risk of overheating. "You really should cool off though." Shadow Labrys stated as she jumped back and swung in the air with enough force that the wave of wind was enough to put out the flames.

Annoyed at her flaming swords were extinguished, Cinder started to shoot fireballs at her opponent only for Shadow Labrys to stop the attacks by swinging right through them with her axe. "Is that seriously all you have to offer? I have fought kindergarteners who gave me a harder fight than you right now." Shadow Labrys taunted as she sliced another fireball in half.

What the android wasn't aware of was the fact that she just stepped on a spot Cinder had prepared as a fire explosion. A large geyser of fire shot out of the floor and completely engulfed Shadow Labrys in it to where you could barely see a faint silhouette of the robotic woman within it. The flaming geyser only came to an end when Labrys used her rocket propelled axe to fly out of the flames and into safety. "That was my favorite outfit," the golden eyed machine stated as she started to use rocket propelled axe swings in an attempt to get revenge for her burnt off clothes.

Cinder used her opponent's anger against her by dodging the axe's blades while giving a flame assisted punch or kick in response to each swing. In what she thought would be the beginning of her final move, Cinder grabbed Shadow Labrys' axe and used the smaller girl's rocket propelled momentum to send her flying over a dozen feet away. Cinder quickly followed this us by casting several lightning bolts as the robot girl before using the one attack Cinder was more than certain would finish off Shadow Labrys, two massive streams of blazing fire that should cause the machine to overheat from the exposure.

When Cinder saw the girl fall to the ground in the center of the flames, Cinder smiled smugly and her smile grew even larger when the ground and ceiling within the vault started to shake as well. Not letting her enjoy the moment like she would want to, Shadow Labrys slashed at the semi maiden's back with her axe and actually managed to break through Cinder's aura and draw blood. "You may enjoy the despair you brought to the city by bringing the Grimm and that Dragon but I am going to LOVE seeing your face when that pathetic maggot is butchered by us and what is left of your plans are ruined."

Shadow Labrys laughed as she continued to anger Cinder with the latter sending a massive wall of fire to the metal maiden who just slashed her way through it. "You are going to have to use more than a little candle flame to defeat me."

* * *

 **Streets of Vale, Vale**

What had previously been understood as two kingdoms partially working together to defend against a Grimm invasion had evolved into a downward spiral into a panicked all-out war.

The Britannian military wasn't enjoying the fact that now they were forced into a three way battle against the Grimm, the Atlesian Knights that Roman managed to hack and the Atlesian regulars who were in the same situation as their Britannian counterparts.

"Death to the Atlesian traitors!" An officer of the Britannian military ordered as his men's position was starting to be overran by the Atlesian Knights model 210 that started to attack them. If it wasn't bad enough for him already, the Grimm had already killed off half the squad that was holing up in the building with his squad.

"This is the BKAS Ikaruga along with the Area 11 Defensive Air Fleet. We will be meeting up with the Avalon and the Pendragon Royal Air Fleet and arriving to provide additional support with the next ten to fifteen minutes. If you are listening to this then you need to hold out as long as possible for Reinforcements are on the way." Colonel Tohdoh of the Black Knights said the emergency channels after Princess Cornelia relay practically the same message from the Avalon.

With the news that the reinforcements from Area 11 and the largest air fleet in the Britannian military were on their way to provide support, the fighting strength of the Britannians increased as they made a renewed effort to defeat the Grimm and Atlesians.

The two Britannian tank divisions started to push forward and fight back against the Grimm while infantry and Knightmares followed but all their progress in turning the battle against the Grimm came to a screeching halt a few minutes later when a small earthquake occurred. At first the tanks kept moving since they thought they had ran over some rouge Atlesian Knights but rather

Mountain Glenn exploded a few seconds later as the infamous Dragon came flying towards the city.

Despite sharing the same names for the different species of Grimm with the kingdoms, the Dragon subspecies were rare enough to obtain individual names within the military, The Dragon was one that gave the empire trouble centuries ago before it was put into a slumber and obtained the name and title Echidna "Mother of all Monsters."

As "Echidna" flew towards the city, the Britannian Ground forces started to panic before order was restored and high ground was sought. "Ready all anti-air weapons to kill Echidna. The longer she is alive, the lower our chances are of surviving the battle." General Ramsey ordered from the G-1 base in the center of the city while Lloyd and Cecile were working on a way to counter the Queen Virus.

"Whoever made this virus is almost as good as I am when I make Knightmares," Lloyd said as Cecile slapped him on the back of the head.

"We don't have time for jokes like that Lloyd. If don't you want to stand around and do nothing as our men and women are dying because of the Grimm and the effect this Virus is having on the Atlesian Knights, I would advise you to shut up and help me find a way to counter it." Cecile chastised as the guards around the G-1 bases suddenly activated an alarm as dozens of Atlesian knights model 130 marched towards the G-1.

"Assistance provided," the leader of the 130s said as he and his brethren turned away from the G-1 and started to defend the Britannian mobile command base against the Grimm and rouge Atlesian robots.

"Hmm I guess the virus only affects the new models." Lloyd noted after witnessing the 130s shooting down the 210s.

"All forces are to accept aid from the Atlesian Knights model 130, they were not affected by whatever turned the Atlesians rouge and are on our side." General Ramsey ordered as the troop transports filled with students landed around the G-1 with the team leaders being advised to report to General Ramsey.

General Ramsey just pointed to a map of the city after being debriefed by the students as to what happened in Amity Colosseum. "We have lost the northern part of the city but the 4th battalion is still holding off the Grimm at the western edge of the city. I have a platoon holding one of the largest bridges leading to Vale and the Glaston Knights are there providing support." The general explained as he pointed to two large clusters of blue dots on the map.

"The southern and eastern part of the city is just a massive assortment of squad based battles without much organization besides the occasional order from us here. If you kids are so desperate to save this city, then I might have a job for you guys."

"Alight what do you need?" Jaune asked as he unofficially became the new leader of the students after Ruby left with Ironwood.

"I need more eyes out in the field that can relay target to the artillery cannons and airstrike while also being fast enough to avoid the explosions." Ramsey said as Arslan and Flynt both decided to volunteer their teams to take that job.

"I need a large number of you to defend the CCT while Sir Gino and Dame Anya assist in eliminating that Dragon we in the Britannian Military have named Echidna. The rest of you are needed to provide relief for my soldiers that are pinned down or being overran. I know you hunters and huntresses have a hero complex but outside this perimeter is an actual warzone so if someone tells you to retreat, you get your asses out of there as fast as possible." Ramsey said as he looked out the window where Echidna was getting increasingly closer.

Jaune and the other team leaders nodded as they were escorted out of the G-1 in time to see dozens of anti-air missiles lock onto the giant flying Grimm and fire.

Sensing that the ancient Grimm was about to be injured by the high explosives in the missiles, dozens if not hundreds of nevermores and griffons moved to intercept the missiles so that "Echidna" wouldn't get hurt.

"All anti-air batteries are to reload and don't stop firing until you run out of ammunition and get overran. Echidna must never take to the skies again." General Ramsey ordered as he watched the green dots that symbolized the hunters and huntresses scatter in different directions to do their jobs.

* * *

 **Vale Airspace, Vale**

Rear Admiral Bind was struggling to return order to the Britannian Fleet after Echidna revealed herself and started to charge towards the Caerleons. In his opinion, the reinforcements couldn't come any slower.

"Order all the ships to prepare their railguns and missile pods to shoot down that beast." Rear Admiral Bind ordered his nervous crew aboard the HMAS Victory while Echidna continued to fly towards them along with many nevermores and griffons.

All of the remaining Caerleons opened fire when Echidna got within range of the railguns but managed to evade them though her escorts weren't so lucky. The missile barrage was also easily avoided but it did leave Echidna without the rest of her escorts who took the hits for her.

"Brace for immediate impact!" Captain Smith of the HMAS Grievance ordered as the giant Grimm smashed into that airship and make it explode after the damaged airship collided with the HMAS Retribution.

"Sir we have confirmed reports that the Grievance and Retribution have been lost. The Pendragon Royal Air Fleet and the Area 11 Defense Fleet are still seven minutes away and we will be destroyed in five minutes." One of the officers of the HMAS Victory reported as Echidna came in for another attack run.

"Have the fighters from the carriers see if they can distract that monster long enough for our help to arrive. _It's going to take everything we and the reinforcements have just too possibly stand a chance against this abomination._

The fighter jets and flight enabled Knightmares were trying to distract the giant Grimm away from the fleet but barely had any success.

The distraction would only work for moments as the fighters would do strafing runs against the beast's back and have it pursue them momentarily before Echina caught sight of the Caerleons or the airships fired a massive barrage of missiles and railguns to shoot her down.

"It looks like we are only irritating her, I never thought we would need something bigger than multiple raiguns to shoot something like that down." Captain Jones of the HMAS Harbinger told Rear Admiral Bind through the radio as a few other captains also spoke up in agreement.

"We just have to keep this up for a three more minutes until help arrives," Rear Admiral Bind ordered as one of his officers reported that the HMAS Justice had just flung to the ground by Echidna.

"We can't risk losing any more ships to the Echidna!" Bind shouted as his ships continued to attack the Grimm so that it wouldn't start to terrorize the ground based combatants any more than it already is with the dripping Grimm. It was at this moment that the HMAS Victory captured the attention of Echidna who immediately started to go and attack it.

Right as Echidna was about to impact the ship of Rear Admiral Bind, two giant beams of red and black energy collided with the dragon Grimm forcing it to almost fall out of the sky.

"This is Princess Cornelia li Britannia with reinforcements for the defense of the city of Vale." Cornelia said as the Avalon and her support fleet flew into the city's airspace and the Ikaruga started to recharge its dual hadron cannons.

Rear Admiral Bind turned and saw the Ikaruga and Avalon lead about half a dozen Longres class airships and over twenty to maybe thirty Caerleons in tow. Additionally there were dozens if not over a hundred flight enabled knightmares flying to either the battle below or towards "Echidna."

The morale of the beleaguered Britannians suddenly skyrocketed as not only did a massive fleet from the homeland come to help, but it was being led by Princess Cornelia who still had her title of Chief General of the Britannian Armed forces, even under the rule of Emperor Clovis.

With their spirits and numbers replenished, the Britannian Air Force went on the heavy offensive and fired everything they had at the giant Grimm. Railguns collided with hide as missiles impacted the wings and every so often a blast from the two hadron cannons on the Ikaruga struck at the beast.

Slowly but surely this giant monstrosity was being killed thanks to the constant barrage of attacks.

The killing blow came when the Longres airships fired the seventy two railguns, they had a combined total of, all at once with about fifty actually hitting the beast the Britannians referred to as "Echidna." Colonel Tohdoh then ordered the Hadron Cannons to be fired at the spot where most of the railgun shells impacted since that should be the weakest spot theoretically.

When the Hadron beams struck their mark, "Echidna" felt her internal organs begin to melt and its whole body start to strain under the constant attack.

The beast figured that the source of most of its pain would be the Ikaruga and flew in pain towards it in hopes of destroying the "pain bringer."

"I want all power transferred to the Hadron Cannons." Tohdoh ordered as the cannons started to charge and the giant Grimm got closer.

"Fire the cannons!" Tohdoh told the crew as the giant Grimm unleashed a huge stream of fire towards the airship only for the Hadron Cannons to overpower the fire and hit the beast with enough force to finally kill it when the beams collided with the head and the Atlesian ships joined in the battle by firing the lasers all over the monster's body at the same time as the Ikaruga.

Everyone on the ground and in the air started to cheer at the defeat of the monstrous Grimm but the ground battle still wasn't won as the fleet started to provide more support for the ground forces that were still being overwhelmed by the Grimm.

"All air forces are to assist the efforts on the ground to push the Grimm back." Cornelia ordered as the body of the Grimm called Echidna by the Britannians started to dissolve. _If I am correct, the battle on the ground might be a victory in say an hour or two._

* * *

 **Beacon Academy Vault, Beacon Academy**

Neo smiled smugly as she continued to beat Rolo. "I haven't had such a pain in the neck since the last time someone tried to break it." Rolo remarked as Neo managed to disarm him.

In an act of desperation, Rolo completely froze Neo and then crawled over to where his staff laid on the ground. After he got a hold of his weapon and stood up before his frozen opponent.

Worn out by the bearing he got from her, Rolo charged up the dust at the end which allowed him to shock his targets and thawed out Neo. Neo quickly created an illusion to avoid the shock from Rolo but wasn't expecting his actual move.

Instead of hitting her with the staff to electrocute her, Rolo slammed his staff into the melted ice on the ground and managed to hit Neo even with illusion active thanks to the fact that she was still wet from the melted ice.

The electrical shock was enough to knock the breath out of Neo and make her fall to her knees in pain.

"Eat this you mute little piece of shit." Rolo told the injured Neo as he slammed his staff into her head and knocking her unconscious.

With Rolo recovering from his near defeat at the hands of Neo, Sterling was still in the middle of his fight with Emerald.

The dark skinned girl actually gave the older man a few good cuts with her sickles. The worst of these cuts was gash along his back where his younger opponent barely missed his spine.

"Alright time to take the kiddie gloves off," Sterling declared as Emerald managed to shoot one of his pistols out of his hand. In response to such an attack, Sterling pulled out The Enforcer and just started firing at wherever he thought Emerald was hiding.

Cinder's gunslinger wasn't expecting such heavy fire and was hard pressed to find a good hiding spot since any pillar she hid behind was quickly chipped away as soon as she was found.

Emerald tried to come out of hiding to shoot the weapon out of his hand like she did with one of his revolvers but the hail of bullets intercepted each shot and her earlier shoulder injury was really starting to take its toll on her. She tried to shoot with the arm connected to the injured shoulder but quickly dropped that weapon in pain.

Sir Sterling caught up with the thief and with a look of reluctance, he smashed her in the back of the head with a single pistol whip while using the enforcer.

Now that Neo and Emerald were both defeated, all that was left was for Shadow Labrys to make Cinder fall in defeat.

Speaking of the two opponents, Shadow Labrys was actually having to use her axe to stop her sliding after Cinder started to manipulate the wind to push the android away from her. "Now that's just not fair." Shadow Labrys thought as she figured out her finisher.

While Cinder was turning the wind into a superhot heat wave to once again try to overheat the android, Shadow Labrys threw her axe and imbedded into the ice barricade around Schneizel and pulled herself towards Cinder at near breakneck speed. Cinder barely had time to brace herself as the machine came flying at her and gave Cinder a high speed sucker punch that sent both of them slamming into the ice around Schneizel.

The ice around Schneizel shattered allowing the Prime Minister to witness the final moments of the fight between his former lover/rouge operative and his bodyguard.

Shadow Labrys lifted Cinder by her neck and started to choke her into unconsciousness While Cinder tried to heat up the metal in Shadow Labrys' arms enough that they melt off. Turns out Labrys had the upper hand since before her arms could melt, the consciousness of Cinder started to fade until she limply hung in Shadow Labrys' grip. "Serves you right for thinking you could beat me."

"Don't worry I made sure not to kill her." Shadow Labrys said as notifications told her she was reduced to thirty percent combat capabilities.

"Well we wasted enough time with them, leave them and I will have some soldiers deal with them when we return." Schneizel said as he motioned for the trio of combatants to follow him further down the fall to an elevator where the actual vault containing Amber awaited. "If my predictions are correct, our only obstacle is whatever foolish trap my brother has planned to stop us."

Just barely missing their chance to stop them from reaching the elevator in time, was Team RWBY who oddly enough found signs of the battle against Cinder's group but only the dead White Fang members were left. It was as if Cinder, Neo, and Emerald found a way to escape or were rescued before team RWBY got to them.

"We aren't that far away if Ozpin was right about the elevator being just down this hallway." Ruby shouted as her slightly tired team ran for the elevator Schneizel just went down in. "See they are almost at the bottom and I would put money on it that Lelouch had some plan to stall or even stop them once they reached the bottom."

* * *

While Team RWBY waited for the elevator to return up to them, Schneizel was finally confronting his traitorous little brother.

"I can understand if you are still angry about Marianne's death but was it really necessary to blow up the Clarent with our siblings on it?" Schneizel said calmly as if Lelouch stole a cookie from a jar instead of blowing up an airship full of his own family that also ruled the country.

"The people behind my mother's murder and the reason Nunally suffers were all on there and it was the most efficient way to ensure they were avenged." Lelouch said as the Black Knights raised their rifles and aimed them at the Second Prince.

"I am not chastising you for using what I would was an efficient method but rather you betrayed the entire family and since I engineered it for Cornelia to be sent here upon the Church's release of her. I wouldn't be surprised if Clovis took the throne while we fight one another here in Vale." Schneizel said as Sterling used his semblance to calculate the best shots to take out all of the geasses Black Knight soldiers.

"Did you betray the family to get revenge on a select few of us, wipe out the competition for the throne since Father is dead, or maybe you have a deep rooted fear that the woman you have grown to love might suffer a fate similar to your mother if the others were allowed to live?" Lelouch's older brother asked him as he used psychological warfare to manipulate the real reason for Lelouch's betrayal.

"Moving on to a different topic, I wish to know what exactly your plan was Lelouch? What did you think you could do to actually defeat me?" Schneizel asked as Shadow Labrys readied her axe for the kill order.

"I figured if I could make it look like you were a failure here in protecting our family and in obtaining Amber, I would weaken and humiliate you enough that you would no longer be a threat but the other reason I think I will keep to myself." Lelouch revealed Schneizel who gave the faintest of signals to his three cohorts.

Sterling immediately shot and killed every geassed Black Knight before they could shoot Schneizel. Rolo froze Kallen before she could react and attack. The guy with the shield that Lelouch was borrowing from Piskyakan managed to block Shadow Labrys' killing blow that was intended for Lelouch but both he and his shield were sliced in half in the process. So the only living members of the obstacle in front of Schneizel was a frozen Kallen and Lelouch.

"You do remember that I used to always win when we placed chess correct?" Schneizel said as he associates finished killing or defeating everyone else.

"Indeed I do Schneizel but that's why I was checkers instead." Lelouch said as the doors of the elevator Schneize just left from opened to reveal Team RWBY ready to fight.

Realizing that Lelouch might try to escape in the fight with the students, Shadow Labrys threw her axe at the young prince but the weapon was completely engulfed in a large block of ice thanks to Weiss. Labrys tried to break the ice by punching it but it proved useless and she was forced to fight with her bare hands and trump card.

Sterling already had a look of defeat on his worn out face when he came to the decision to throw his fight against his daughter. _I can't bring myself to hurt my own daughter. I am sorry Schneizel but there isn't enough money in the world to make me turn on my family like yours does on a daily basis._

So when Blake came to fight her father, she was slightly shocked to see him almost purposely drop his guns when he halfheartedly blocked her sword with the revolvers. "Well it seems like I am out of the fight."

"You still have The Enforcer so kill her with it." Rolo ordered as he created another ice barricade around Schneizel and started to fight ice with ice against Weiss.

"You're right Cardinal Gaeibleu, maybe I should use The Enforcer," Sterling said as he pulled out the legendary weapon and fired a single round at Rolo.

Rolo anticipated that something like that would happen after what he said and was barely lucky. Instead of the bullet going straight through his head and brain to kill him, the bullet instead went straight through his left eye and destroyed it.

Furious at the loss of his eye, Rolo froze the gunslinger's hand that was holding The Enforcer and made the ice explode. Blake was mortified as she saw not only The Enforcer being shattered into a thousand pieces but also her father's hand completely disappeared as well leaving no trace that the hand was even there in the first place.

While Blake helped her one handed father, Weiss was shocked by the Cardinal's actions and quickly attacked him with several dust infused attacks before delivering one final strike. The attack was powerful enough to destroy the staff and knock the one eyed Cardinal out in the ensuing explosion.

All that was left was Shadow Labrys who was giving both Ruby and Yang a run for their money thanks to Asterius. Since she didn't have her axe anymore, Shadow Labrys was enjoying her fist fight with Yang while Ruby was left to deal with the fire spewing bull Grimm looking monster thing.

"Yang I don't think I am doing much damage against this thing." Ruby said as it was really up to the sisters to deal with the duo since Weiss was too exhausted and overtaxed with her fight with the rouge knights earlier and now with Rolo. Blake on the other hand was too busy helping out her father whose injuries were really starting to take their toll on him.

"The reason you aren't doing anything to hurt Asterius is because he is an extension of my will and mind so as long as those two are fine, so is he." Shadow Labrys explained as the monster shot two large streams of fire from his horns.

Yang might have been getting stronger with each hit she got from Shadow Labrys but even she had a limit to how much she could take before she herself would fall like Cinder.

While everyone was distracted or doing something else, a small red and black portal appeared on the ceiling above Asterius and a woman wearing a large mask jumped out of the portal. Yang barely saw the portal her mother escaped through after the later used her sword to 'kill' Asterius to assist her daughter's fight against the Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon.

What Raven actually did was essentially detonated a mental bomb in Shadow Labrys' personality and stunned her in place as she started to mentally repair herself. Yang used this opportunity to signal Ruby of a joint attack.

What happened was Yang punched Shadow Labrys in the jaw with enough strength that she went flying back towards Ruby who shot her back to Yang. Yang then punched Shadow Labrys into the ceiling and watched as she crashed into the floor and fell unconscious.

With all three of his allies defeated, Yang simply walked towards the barricade protecting Schneizel from any stray attack and shattered it with a single punch. "Well it looks like you lose today Schneizel."

"I can live with the knowledge that there is always tomorrow and that Lelouch's plan also didn't go as planned." Schneizel said as reached into this outfit and pulled out his pistol he kept for emergencies.

"I am sorry to do this Lelouch but there isn't anything else I can do about this." Schneizel said as he fired the pistol at Lelouch with intentions to kill him. Everyone was shocked however when the bullet was blocked by Unit 024's sword when she came out of seemingly nowhere.

"I needed to have an alternate plan in case you actually defeated me so I had Unit 024 rebuilt and then used her as a means of escape." Lelouch explained before he and the elder sister of Labrys ran for a second elevator that actually led up to the surface.

Before Schneizel could fire a second bullet at his brother, Sterling shot the pistol out of the Prime Minister's hand with his only good hand left. "You girls go after him. Me, Blake, and Weiss will hold down the fort."

 _I will make sure people know the truth of how you were the killer of the Royal Family. Then you won't just be the Eleventh Prince but also the Black Prince of Remnant for turning against your family and empire._ Schneizel thought as Sterling made sure to keep his revolver aimed at the prince in case he tried to do anything.

With the order from the Knight of Five, Ruby and Yang gave chase but were too slow to prevent them from escaping onto the elevator but thankfully there was another one right next to it. The reason there were so many elevators leading to the basement and Vault of Beacon Academy was that the architects of the school originally designed this section of the school to serve as a bunker during times of emergency and was repurposed recently after Amber's incident.

"This is Unit 024 reporting in. I have secured Dolos and we need you to pick us Lady Sayoko." Unit 024 reported as the same stealth ship that dropped her off earlier started to make its way towards Beacon.

Ruby and Yang noticed where Lelouch and Unit 024 were standing but before they could give chase, Yang tackled Ruby to the ground since the stealth ship was flying by and did a strafing run by the two huntresses.

As Lelouch boarded the ship piloted by his maid/ninja bodyguard and the stealth android, he looked back to see the defeated looks on Ruby and Yang's faces before the ramp raised and the ship took off.

Lelouch almost told Sayoko to dock at Amity Colosseum temporarily so that they could pick up Aigis and maybe Coco but then figured that there was a chance that Cornelia might shoot down the strange airship if the rescue took too long. So instead of going to rescue his bodyguard and the woman he was forced into being engaged to, Lelouch escaped from Vale to where he will be laying low for several months and maybe for over a year.

Back in the vault, Schneizel was already planning on the punishments for his three failed associates. Sterling could only be punished by the emperor thanks to his status as a Knight of the Round but that didn't make him invincible. Shadow Labrys hated being stuck within Labrys so maybe a few months of being imprisoned within her own body as the real Labrys assume control might be enough punishment.

Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu on the other hand had a special punishment planned out by Schneizel. _The Cardinal has gone by many different names and a new one won't be anything he is unused to but a career as a military tactician will be a new experience for him._ Schneizel thought as he planned out the rebirth of Cardinal Rolo Gaeibleu into Special Military Advisor Julius Kingsley.

* * *

 **Streets of Vale, Vale**

The Grimm were finally being pushed back out of the city when Ozpin received a message from Ruby saying that even though Schneizel was defeated, Lelouch was forced to retreat out of Vale, and Cinder was still missing, the objective he gave her was a success. _So I guess my plan came out on top?_

Ozpin turned and informed Glynda and Qrow of their victory with Glynda nodding in approval. Qrow couldn't hide how proud he was of his nieces and their team with both the head teacher and headmaster having a small smile after seeing Qrow's large smile.

"Even though the Viceroy of Area 11 got away, we still obtained a major victory for our cause with the capture of the Prime Minister." Ozpin declared as a message appeared on his scroll that informed him of the missing Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck being found alive and safe next to a large pile of Grimm the two had killed.

"After what we have been through in the past few hours, I think I could really use that." Glynda said as she snatched Qrow's flask away from him before he could drink from it and took a sip.

Qrow started to relax a little as he watched the two bicker over how Glynda stole Qrow's alcohol.

In another part of the city, Jaune was really relieved when he finally got a message from Velvet saying that they were safe and was the twenty thousand scroll messages really worth it?

Pyrrha was destroying the last of the rouge Atlesian Knights when Jaune informed her of the safety of team CFVY. _It seems Jaune and Velvet might be close to one another, lucky girl._

After she and Aigis finally got a ship down to the city, Coco received a message from Velvet explaining that they are all ok thanks to what Lelouch did to keep them out of harm's way during the battle. What Coco wasn't happy about was the apology message Lelouch sent explaining how he has to go underground for a while and can't risk her safety by bringing her or Aigis with him.

 _Boy do I have a few things to tell him next time I see his face,_ Coco thought as she looked forward to their future reunion though she didn't know when it would be.

Aigis meanwhile was assisting in moving rubble out of the streets so that ambulances and transports could move through to get to the injured soldiers and civilians.

Coco just read the last line of Lelouch's message as she looked around and saw how relieved people were that the Grimm attack was over.

"You are right Lelouch, hope does begin today. So let's keep moving forward."

* * *

 **That my dear readers was by far the longest chapter I have wrote so far. The largest chapter before this one clocked in at little over eight thousand words including the Author Notes with this one being around fourteen thousand. By the time I actually watched Episode 10 of Volume 3, I was already at the part when Shadow Labrys made the candle remark to Cinder.**

 **So it looks like Cinder defeated Ozpin and Ironwood at first with her own plan being stopped by the Britannians. Schneizel's plan was stalled by Lelouch long enough for Ozpin's new plan of stopping Schneizel to succeed. So really the people whose plans came out on top were Ozpin's plan of saving Amber from Schneizel's mysterious purpose for her, Lelouch's plan of revenge and escape, and lastly Clovis' plan to seize the throne while his biggest competitors were either away from Pendragon or killed by Lelouch.**

 **I chose to call the Dragon Grimm Echidna since in Greek Mythology she was called "the mother of all monsters" and in RWBY the Dragon Grimm was literally dripping some kind of substance that would give birth to more Grimm.**

 **I am sorry to inform those of you who hated Rolo and wanted him dead that your wish somewhat came true in that while he is still alive to kill and plot for the future, he isn't Rolo but rather Julius Kingsley now since this Rolo is identical to Lelouch after all.**

 **So anyway I hope you enjoyed this really long chapter and t** **his is Bylackbre signing out.**


	13. The Aftermath of the Battle

**Hey it's Bylackbre here with a new chapter of the story for you guys to enjoy. I have been meaning to finish this chapter earlier but I got distracted with homework and trying to beat Dead Space 2 so I am now finishing this chapter. Many of you have noted that Clovis' reign as emperor will be short and you aren't exactly wrong. If you remember to the flashback chapter, Ruby said that Vale was being invaded by Lelouch two years after the students of Beacon Academy met Britannian Royalty, so Lelouch will have to take the throne within the next year and a half to year and three quarters if not sooner. Without further ado, let's get this chapter started already.**

 **Diclaimer: I do not own Code Geass and I also do not own RWBY.**

* * *

 **Lelouch's Base, Mistral's Snowcapped Southern Mountains**

It had only been a few hours since Lelouch had escaped capture at the Battle of Vale and he was just now about to arrive at his new base for the coming months. While the stealth ship was landing in the underground base, Lelouch started to remember the history of the facility.

When Britannia first conquered Mistral decades ago, the chief Britannian military officers noticed that when the capital of Mistral was conquered, the ruling elites didn't have a place to escape to. Realizing that the ruling class in Pendragon was in the same situation and decided to do something about it.

The result of the plan was one of the largest construction projects to have ever been attempted in Remnant history without the rest of the world finding out. The base ended up consuming the interior of several mountains and becoming a near impenetrable fortress that was forgotten by the Mistral government. This facility was designed so that if both the Mistral Capital and Pendragon was ever conquered by Atlas or another enemy of the Empire, the remaining military forces of the empire could protect the rest of the royal family and nobility in a facility that almost nobody could break into if they weren't wanted.

When Atlas liberated Mistral from Britannia, the Atlesians discovered the facility and after a very bloody and secret campaign, the automated defense systems were defeated and Atlas had total control of the facility. This was when project Pygmalion was partially captured by the Atlesians. Instead of letting the base collect dust while not in use, Britannia had used the facility for several research projects that would have been too risky to have done on the surface with the project that created Labrys, Metis, Aigis, Unit 024, and all their sisters being housed there.

So while Atlas may have captured the greatest military project ever acted upon by the Britannians, they didn't get everything before abandoning it on the orders of Mistral's new government. The new government didn't know about the facility when they ordered the Atlesians to return to prewar boundaries while acknowledging that they are now under their protection. Not wanting to restart a war with Mistral after rearming them with Atlesian technology, Atlas left but not before installing Atlesian technology alongside the Britannian tech in the base. The result of this combination was a hybrid that prevented the Britannians from fully having control of the facility's capabilities if they were to take it back due to the Atlesian technology working in a different way than Britannian.

This technology problem was one of the main problems faced by Lelouch as his men started repairs on the base to bring it back to full operational condition after year of neglect and lack of maintenance. Lelouch was actually lucky to obtain the funds from several noble families to purchase the mountain range from the Mistral Government while using a fake name several months before he left for the Vytal Festival.

Sayoko Shinozaki originally served as Lelouch and Nunally's maid but had her death faked so she could safely escort Nunally to the base without people trying to track Sayoko's movements. Ever since Nunally was moved to this facility in Mistral, Lelouch had felt more reassured of her safety and then nearly sunk the wealth of seven different firms and noble families he had some control over in the restoration of the base as well as suppling hundreds of soldiers for the defense in case Britannia comes after him. It was the security that this facility provided that led to Lelouch to hide.

One of the investments made by Lelouch was the covert moving of a FLEIJA to under the base so that if Schneizel manages to invade the base, he can detonate the weapon of mass destruction as a last resort to defeating his brother but at the cost of Lelouch's life. _It is a good thing I am moving Nunally within the week,_ Lelouch reassured himself as the side of one of the mountains opened up for the ship to land in the hangar inside.

When the ship finished the landing procedure, Unit 024 stood up from her seat and walked over to the lowering ramp and stood at the end. When Lelouch walked down the ramp, he was impressed with the display before him. Kneeling before him were about two hundred of the base's nine hundred soldiers and officers who were all chanting "All Hail Lelouch."

Unlike traditional Britannian soldiers or the Black Knights, these men and women wore gray uniforms with a white overcoat/cape that had gold trimmings. The most iconic part of their uniforms however had to be the purplish red mask that was worn by all of them and could retract into their hat at a moment's notice. _They will easily be outnumbered if this base gets attacked but at least they won't go down without giving one hell of a fight_ , the prince thought as he noticed Sayoko.

Sayoko walked towards Lelouch after bowing to him and handed him a report detailing the status of the facility and how Clovis has crowned himself emperor shortly after the Clarent's destruction. "It's as you predicted Master Lelouch, with the death of the majority of the Royal Family, Clovis managed to steal victory from Schneizel and Cornelia." Sayoko said as the gather personnel resumed their previous tasks around the base.

"Clovis is good at distracting those beneath him with work so he doesn't have to work. He will probably push most of his work onto Schneizel which should buy us a few more months than planned with the slower pace he will be taking in enacting revenge thanks to the paperwork." Lelouch noted as the prince, the ninja maid, and the android walked down the various corridors towards the central command center.

* * *

One of the marvels of the base was the central command center located deep within the miles of tunnels that the base was made out of. This command center allowed Lelouch to see Britannian troop movements around Remnant as well as a bunker within the base. In case of an airborne based biological or chemical weapon, the central command center had a separate ventilation system that was not connected to the rest of the base as well as a blast door that can withstand multiple hadron cannon blasts.

The central command center also had a small residential area with a kitchen and two rooms. The two rooms belonged to Lelouch and Nunally since Lelouch wanted to keep Nunally in the most secure section of the base. Lelouch also wanted to be close to the command center in case an emergency occurred, he would be close by so he had the other room for himself to sleep in for that reason. The residential area was the top floor of the center while the actual holographic projection machine and most of the monitors were on the middle floor. The bottom floor had terminals for monitoring cameras, controlling doors, activating the defense systems or putting the automated turrets on manual remote control. These were just three of the countless rooms within the underground base.

One of the biggest flaws of this section of the base was that if there was an emergency evacuation that needed to take place, the command center was too deep within the maze that was the base. Lelouch thought about remedying this by having a third hangar constructed besides the one close to the top of one of the mountains and the one at the base of the far eastern mountain. The only problem was that the more exterior movement he allowed his men, the more likely Schneizel is to realize that the abandoned base is actually occupied and fortified.

When Lelouch finally reached the central command center, the giant blast door was already opening and the officers inside simply saluted, instead of kneeling like their fellow soldiers did earlier, since they were busy assessing what the Britannians in Vale were about to do next. Lelouch decided to get the latest developments since he arrived after he paid a visit to Nunally first. Sayoko followed Lelouch while Unit 024 returned to her own personal quarters elsewhere in the fortress for minor repairs.

When he reached the residential area, Lelouch knocked on the wall like he used to in Aires Villa before moving her here. Nunally recoginized the knocking noise and called out to Lelouch as she rolled her wheelchair out of her room and towards the source of the knocking. "It's nice to see you too Nunally," Lelouch said as he gave his double handicapped sister a hug.

"I was really worried when I was told that the Clarent exploded with some of our brothers and sisters. I heard Euphie was on board when it exploded but I didn't know if you were or not." Nunally said while oblivious to the fact that it was Lelouch who blew up the airship.

Lelouch was aware that a majority of the Royal Family perished in the explosion, a small part of his soul slightly died when his sister told him about Euphiemia's death. _I am sorry I had you killed. I hope you can forgive me for what I did Euphie._

"I heard that you had a fiancé for a few days, I really wanted to meet her." Nunally said lamenting on the fact that she didn't get to be introduced to her brother's fiancé even though it was someone who she already knew. "I already know Coco is an old friend of yours but it's been so long since I have been around her that she is practically a stranger to me now."

"When everything calms down, I promise to introduce you to her." Lelouch promised her only for him to be shocked by what she told him next.

"You don't have to do that Lelouch. I know that Clovis cancelled all the arranged marriages including your marriage and Schneizel's."

Lelouch was really taken off guard by this statement. _I know I feel a little hurt by this but how is Coco going to react when she hears this?_ Lelouch thought as for the second time since he reunited with Nunally, a little piece of him died inside at the news of his arranged marriage to Coco being called off. Sure he didn't like it when people played around with his life and made decisions for him without his permission but he was unsure of why this instance made him sad on the inside.

Before Lelouch could ponder on why he suddenly felt so sad, one of the officers from below came and approached Lelouch.

"I apologize for interrupting your reunion with your sister but you are needed down on the eighth floor at the research and development center there. I will have Unit 024 come to the central command center and escort you." The man Lelouch recognized as one of the operation commanders said as he pressed a few buttons on his scroll which sent a notification to Unit 024.

* * *

Since she had been rebuilt and given a new purpose by Lelouch, Unit 024 had developed a rather odd view of life. She knew that the average life expectancy in Remnant wasn't as high as it could have been but never that didn't stop her from being optimistic about helping others survive, even if it meant she would die again. After all, she is really just felt like a copy of a ghost hiding within an unused mechanical body.

An interesting aspect of the fifth generation of Anti-Grimm Suppression weapons is that, only if you don't count the rebuilt Unit 024, Labrys is the only living member of that generation. The researchers during that generation decided that the best way to ensure they had the best one was by mass producing dozens of Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons and then have the sisters all killed by each other until there was only one. Unit 024 was one of the more powerful members of her generation and was great friends with Unit 031 before she was given the name of Labrys. It was the day after Labrys received her name that Unit 024's life ended the first time, and it was by Labrys' hands.

Unit 024 didn't feel anger towards Labrys for her death because she would do it all again if given the choice. Labrys was ordered to destroy her opponent in the arena that day and her opponent ended up being none other than Unit 024.

Labrys pleaded with the researchers to not let them fight, because it's one thing to kill someone that you recognize as another nameless machine with the situation changing drastically when the person you are ordered to kill is someone who is the closest thing you have to an older sister. Unit 024 watched with sadness and pity as Labrys tried to smash the one way mirror that separated the researchers from her but to no avail.

"I don't want you to be punished so please end this." Unit 024 said which had Labrys hopeful that her older sister figure was talking to the researchers but dread filled her upon realizing the words were directed at the girl with an actual name.

"Ya know I can't do that. I can't bring myself to hurt ya 024," Labrys said as Unit 024 noticed the younger girl's arms were shaking in fear and sadness. "Ya said ya would protect me but how do ya plan on doin that if I kill ya?" Labrys asked Unit 024 with a serious face that was on the verge of breaking down in sadness.

"Leave that to me Labrys. I promise that I won't leave your side and will always be there to protect you." Once she finished saying this, Unit 024 pulled her sword off of her back and charged towards her opponent. Labrys knew 024 was a dangerous opponent but wasn't happy when the older machine allowed herself to be easily disarmed after her first strike.

"Please let her live!" Labrys pleaded to the people on the other side of the mirror who did nothing in response. After asking a few more times with her axe still in her hands, the researchers finally gave her a response that she dreaded to hear.

"Labrys, you are to finish this section of the project and kill Unit 024."

It was at this moment that Unit 024 knew she had to really provoke Labrys since the latter wasn't going to do it. Had Labrys not killed Unit 024 that day, the researchers would have deemed her a failure and not only scrapped her, but also the rest of the fifth generation leaving no survivors. Unit 024 didn't want this fate for Labrys so she forced the younger android to kill her to ensure her own safety.

With her body destroyed and herself essentially "dead," Unit 024's personality and "soul" was absorbed into the databanks within Labrys alongside the other Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons that were slain by Labrys.

Labrys had yet to develop her Shadow mode at this point and the researchers never figured out that the Shadow wasn't a programming error that unlocked a different part of the personality but rather it was a part of them that would grow over time into something they wanted to escape from or reject. Aigis' programming made it to where her shadow mode was formed while she was being programed and thus Metis was born when they transferred the Shadow into another machine instead of letting it stay within Aigis.

What Unit 024 feared however was the fact that she had read reports that symptoms of Labrys being overtaken by Shadow Labrys didn't really start to appear until after her death that Labrys probably wanted more than anything to forget. So it made Unit 024 ponder on whether or not her death served as the catalyst for Shadow Labrys to be born and her spirit that was to "always protect Labrys" became Asterius. _We may have a similar color scheme and my 'headband' might look like it has a pair of horns in the pattern but surely I am not the monster?_

This question was always in the back of the rebuilt maiden's mind and some relief came when she finally saw Labrys during the battle several hours before. Besides their physical form that everyone in Remnant can see, they also have a special form that only Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons can see. This form can only form after they had confronted their shadow and accepted it instead of allowing it to completely control them. This form usually created what can be described as the closest thing they have to an aura and Shadow Labrys has Asterius which serves the same function but is visible to everyone and fights alongside the Shadow instead of just passively protecting.

So when Unit 024 saw Shadow Labrys during the rescue of Lelouch, she saw the abomination that was Asterius while suspecting that it could be her when the monster stared her in the eyes. When Yang knocked out Shadow Labrys however, Unit 024 witnessed the shift from Shadow mode to regular mode and the normal unconscious Labrys being sheltered by a tall mechanical looking woman with long flowing hair that was the same color as Unit 024's hair.

 _Even if I am that horrific beast, as long as I can protect her as that form and as the woman when she is normal, I can be at peace._ Unit 024 thought as she pulled the tools to repair her arms out and got ready to work.

It was then that Unit 024 received the order to return to the central command center, Unit 024 had just started to repair one of her arms and gave an annoyed sigh before putting her tools away and walking out of the room. "Time to go see what the bosses want."

* * *

As the prince and the android were walking down the halls of the base, Lelouch was reminded of how they rebuilt her.

Almost a year ago, Labrys somehow unleashed her Shadow Mode and slaughtered the entirety of one of the ghettos in Area 11. Lelouch had to send Aigis, Jeremiah and a large portion of his royal guard to subdue the rampaging machine and bring her back for analysis before Schneizel demanded her return.

One of the major discoveries they made while analyzing Labrys was a vast database of the personalities of all of the fifth generation Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons. Lelouch only had time to copy a few of the originals before he was forced to hand over the mechanical maiden. One of the copied personalities was Unit 024 and it was the most intact of all of them. When they obtained the facility a few months back, they found one of the unused bodies of the seventh generation and after many trials and errors, they finally managed to 'resurrect' the copied ghost back into a new machine.

Lelouch was there with The Engineer and The Psychologist when Unit 024 was restored and the two had a very sad expression on their masked faces before informing Lelouch that the procedure was a success. The reason these two always wore masks was because after what they did with the fifth generation and the monstrous Shadow Labrys they accidently created, they thought of their faces as the faces of monsters instead of scientists. They were not around for the sixth generation but decided to atone for the errors of the past by assisting with the production of the seventh generation and making sure they don't end up like the fifth generation.

The two scientist aligned themselves with Lelouch and usually stayed in the fortress though they would take the occasional freelance job that would lead them to one of the other kingdoms. The duo actually requested Lelouch's presence after they learned he had arrived with Unit 024 escorting the prince to them.

When the renegade prince arrived in the room the scientists were working in, Lelouch saw an unsettling sight before him. The back wall of the room was filled with large canisters filled with an odd liquid and nearly dead soldiers that were kept unconscious.

"I am sorry you had to see the test subjects," The Surgeon said as he motioned for one of the assistants to press the button to lower the panel that would prevent people from seeing what was inside the canisters.

"It's fine Surgeon, had I not given the order for those that have nearly died in the restoration to have this fate, then I would be more disturbed." Lelouch reassured the outlier of the three professionals that Lelouch had relocated to his base. The Surgeon had no previous connection to Project Pygmalion and Lelouch only knew about him after he was the one to perform the surgery that created the body double for Lelouch by the name of Rolo Gaeibleu/Julius Kingsley.

"This is the biggest project you have ever given us to cooperate on," The Engineer said as he walked away from some blueprints and towards the Prince with The Psychologist following him.

"I am currently scanning the hippocampus of the subjects so that I can have an idea of how to approach my role in this project." The Psychologist said as she looked over some notes concerning the memories of the subjects. "It will take me a couple of months to alter the hippocampus enough that even if the old memories were to resurface, they wouldn't recognize them as their own." _At least not at first,_ The Psychologist thought as she was aware that there was always a chance for failure when enacting an operation as audacious as this.

"The body modifications that I will be making alongside The Engineer will be easily to excuse with The Psychologist implanting memories that will correspond with the tale that we weave." The Surgeon reassured Lelouch as The Engineer moved to some machinery that was working on creating some plate armor.

"We will notify you when the project is finished," The Engineer told Lelouch while motioning for him to leave the room so they can resume work.

"I am going to spend some time with Nunally before I call it a day. As you know that I have been through quite a bit today." Lelouch told Unit 024 as he had left her thanks to the fact he memorized the route back to the central command center already. "We have a lot of work to do in the coming months."

* * *

 **Three Months Later**

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

The last few months had been very interesting for the world of Remnant to say the least.

Atlas was the last of the kingdoms to leave the disaster that was that year's Vytal Festival and they didn't leave without a better reputation in the other kingdoms' eyes. Mistral was the most vocal in their anger at Atlas with their security failures putting the entire country in a state of near civil war between those who are supportive of Atlas and those who want to cut all ties to them. Vacuo was silent as always when it concerned international politics with Vale trying to lower the tensions between Britannia, and Atlas as well as offer advice to Mistral on how to deal with a potential civil war.

Those in Mistral that wanted to be liberated from the Atlesian influence in their kingdom were mostly distrustful of the capabilities of Atlas to provide them protection since not only were they unable to prevent a Grimm outbreak before the Vytal Festival, they also allowed their hardware to be stolen by a person they captured and lost shortly afterwards. The number of people who supported the Anti-Atlesian Party was growing with each day with the population who publicly supported the party estimated to be around thirty five to forty percent of the population.

There was only one person who was nearly as nervous as the Mistral Council concerning the growing organization and her name was Miss Pyrrha Nikos.

Pyrrha wasn't the only one who was becoming increasingly nervous and slightly agitated with the changes in the political realm of Remnant. Coco Adel, former fiancé of Prince Lelouch, had figured out how dangerous Schneizel really was and was furious that he managed to escape justice for the outcome of his actions. Schneizel's diplomatic immunity prevented him from facing the consequences of his actions as well as shield Rolo and Labrys from any punishments.

Blake's father was a member of the Knights of the Round so the half faunus was protected from all punishment except from the Emperor who was the only person allowed to punish or judge them.

What angered Coco the most about the aftermath of the Battle of Vale was that Lelouch was listed amongst the dead and that Aigis was to go back to Britannia with the rest of the delegation. Coco tried to persuade Ozpin to admit Aigis as a student to keep her out of the hands of Lelouch's enemies but her plea fell on deaf ears when Professor Goodwitch rejected the idea out of fear of angering the empire.

Something that was making her feel nervous however was the potential for her family to lose their nobility or even their lives. Coco's mother usually kept her family more focused on their fashion empire than the power struggle that was Britannian nobility but Clovis' ascension to the throne might as well have started an earthquake.

Many nobles were afraid that they will lose their position to someone of a lower rank simply because they were good friends with the new emperor. There were some who was more concerned with the fact that the new emperor might be holding a grudge against them and have them killed off.

Whenever this fear would somehow creep its way into her head, Coco would always just calm down since as far as she knows, politics is just like business and _Mom is a badass when it comes to business so we should be fine. Maybe the fact he called off all the arranged marriages was his way of warning us to stay in line?_ Coco thought this optimistically despite the fact that the only reason Clovis called off the engagements was because he had a very ugly fiancé and couldn't get out of that arrangement without canceling everyone else's as well.

Despite the worries of Coco and Pyrrha, things were relatively back to normal at Beacon Academy. Well normal except for the fact that the students from the three kingdoms currently angry at each other were increasing the amount of hatred and bullying done between them. Pyrrha, Weiss, and Coco all understood why their homes were at each other's throats but decided that they weren't going to let politics interfere with their friendships with others unlike some of the students.

It was just a regular day without any classes so Pyrrha was going to sleep in for once when Nora decided that she had a different plan for her teammate. "WAKE UP IT'S YOUR SOON TO BE BIRTHDAY!" Nora screeched at the top of her lungs as she jumped on top of a sleeping Pyrrha to wake her up.

 _Just because it's a week before my birthday doesn't mean you can just use me as a springboard._ Pyrrha thought as she painfully woke up after Nora stopped bouncing on her ribcage.

"Nora would you please stop doing that to people?" Ren asked as he was getting ready to do some errands out in the city.

"But it is so much fun to jump on people to remind them that their birthday is coming up."

"It's alright Ren, I really don't mind as long as she asks before doing the jumping," Pyrrha said as she got out of bed and started to get ready for a shower. Usually Pyrrha tried to take a shower before Jaune woke up because of an incident early on when the team all started to share a room.

It was during the first semester and while Pyrrha was taking a shower, Ren and Nora left to go eat breakfast but they were too load when leaving and woke up Jaune by accident. Jaune's jaw dropped when he saw Pyrrha wearing nothing but a towel that slightly exposed her cleavage and wasn't paying attention and he fell face first into the floor while working on getting out of bed.

Pyrrha rushed over to help her team leader but only made the situation worse when the towel wrapped around her started to come undone and making the young man faint at the sight of the towel falling off of Pyrrha's body. Pyrrha remembers all of this but that bump on Jaune's head kept him from remembering anything that happened that morning.

Jaune was just waking up when Pyrrha finished getting dressed and Nora was already shouting at Jaune to get ready since all of Team JNPR was heading to the city for some errands.

During the battle that happened a few months back, Pyrrha's scroll was damaged and so she had to get a new one with all of her old numbers not being stored though a few she has managed to restore most of them that are from Beacon classmates. But the call that was being made to her was a number she used to have stored and it was Ren who picked up the scroll while Pyrrha was in the bathroom doing her hair.

"I am certain that she would like that as a surprise," Ren told the other person on the scroll as Pyrrha walked back into the room.

"We have a new errand we have to run at around 2:00. We need to go to the airport and pick up a guest before we head back here." Ren explained as he put Pyrrha's scroll back on the table.

"Who was that on my scroll?" Pyrrha asked after checking her call history and noticing that it was a number that she didn't recoginize.

"It's an early birthday surprise," Ren said as he opened the door for his team to follow him out of the room. Jaune was jumping on one foot while trying to follow his team members and tie his shoe.

"Think you need a hand there?" Yang asked as she held out her right hand to help support the young hunter in training. Yang, Ruby, and Blake were just walking back to their dorm following a discussion about Cinder and Torchwick's potential whereabouts.

 _I wish that bastard would have been eaten by a griffon,_ Blake thought after Ozpin told her that the terrorist known as Roman Torchwick was still missing but confirmed alive after the airship he hijacked was shot down by the Britannians.

"I am good but thanks for offering your hand," Jaune told the brawler as he rushed to catch up with his team.

When Ruby, Blake, and Yang entered their dorm, Weiss was busy on her scroll looking at the different masks that were for sale on her scroll. Yang noticed what Weiss was doing first and walked over to her. "Need a hand with that Weiss?"

"No Yang I do not need a hand, I am perfectly capable of picking out a mask for the masquerade celebration." Weiss said as Blake and Ruby's attention was captured by masquerade and celebration respectively.

 _Masquerade? Could the White Fang try infiltrating it?_ Blake thought as she dread the potential of meeting Adam after her betrayal of him.

 _Does this mean there will be a party with a lot of food and cookies?_ Ruby thought as she got her own scroll out and started to look at masks.

"So what is this mask party all about?" Yang asked as she sat down next to Weiss and placed her right hand on Weiss' shoulder to look over the smaller girl.

"The Council of Vale has organized it to honor the cooperation of Britannia, and Atlas during the defense of the kingdom from the Grimm but Mistral and the Schnee Dust Company have also been invited since they play a major role in international politics." Weiss explained as she found the perfect mask to go along with her outfit.

"So you are going as part of the Schnee Dust Company delegation and you are going to take us along since Team RWBY will be your plus one." Yang said as Weiss tried to argue that she isn't but Yang placed her right hand over Weiss' mouth. "There is no need to argue and this will be a good chance for all of us to wind down since we have had so much homework lately."

Weiss only looked down in defeat before rising from the bed she was sitting on. "Make sure you have your outfits ready by Saturday since it is when the party is. Oh and Yang, never put you hand over my mouth to keep me from saying something." Weiss ordered as she summoned a large hand from a glyph and punched Yang across the room with it. _It actually worked that time!_

Ruby was already looking for a mask before Weiss gave them the ok to go. She found an interesting red and black mask that would go well with her cape but couldn't find a good dress to go along with the cape.

Blake reached into the drawer that she kept her old White Fang mask in but Yang snatched it away before Blake could grab it. "You won't be needing this anymore," Yang told the dark haired girl as she slammed the mask on the ground and smashed it with a single stomp. "I would have shot it but my gauntlets are in the armory and the people above us probably don't want the locker to cause another set of holes in their room."

Blake just looked up at where they tried to patch the large hole they made and the chewing out they got from Professor Goodwitch. _Good call there Yang and thank you,_ Blake thought as she shopped for a mask that wouldn't remind her of the masks worn by the White Fang.

Yang wasn't really the mask wearing kind so she just looked through her collection of bandanas to figure out which to wear. _At least this way I don't have to give up an arm to pay for an outfit._

"Hey isn't Pyrrha's birthday next Sunday?" Ruby asked after finally discovering what she would wear after thirty minutes of hunting for an outfit.

"Yeah and we need to get her a present sometime during this week," Blake said as she didn't lift her eyes from the scroll in front of her.

* * *

 **City of Vale, Vale**

Team JNPR had just finished all the errands they had to get done but almost forgot about the special errand at the airport they had to take care of.

When they got off the bus at the entrance, Pyrrha just had a bad feeling about what was waiting for her. _Ren and the others would never do anything bad to me so why do I feel so uneasy?_

It was while they were waiting for Flight 343 that Pyrrha saw a plane with the official Mistral Government emblem on it beginning to land. _Please tell me it's not him that is visiting me?!_ Pyrrha thought as she began to internally panic at the possibility of Him paying a visit.

When the Mistral plane started to unload its passengers, Pyrrha filled with dread at the man she saw before her. "Hello Hector."

Hector Nikos saw his little sister and just got her in a hug and spun her around in the air. "It's been too long little sister, or should I use your title of Mistral's Hero?" The Mistral government agent asked his sister with an earnest smile.

"It's….. nice to see you too Hector but what are you doing here?" Pyrrha told her brother after slight hesitation.

"Well there is a meeting between kingdoms that the council chose me to represent us at on Saturday and since I will be in town I decided to come a few days early and spend some time with my little sister." The elder Nikos said he straightened his suit and Jaune noticed what was probably his weapon hidden within the suit.

"So I take it you are this secret brother that Pyrrha never bothered to tell anyone about?" Jaune asked only for the older and taller redhead to give the team leader a confused look. "I am surprised that Pyrrha never mentioned me to her fellow team members."

Pyrrha just rubbed the back of her head while trying to come up with an excuse for her secrecy. "Did she at least mention any of her family outside of Mom and Dad?" Hector asked the team only for Ren and Jaune to shake their heads no.

This confused Hector more than when Pyrrha played pranks on him by using her semblance to make him hit himself in the face with food when eating with metal eating utensils. It took him two years to figure out that it was Pyrrha that was behind the prank and it wasn't because he was clumsy at the dinner table.

"I swear there was supposed to be an eighty three point nine seven four one percent chance she would have mentioned me by now."

"Well it has been pretty stressful the last few months. She has also hasn't made any trips to Mistral since the Vytal Festival." Jaune said while trying to figure out why Hector mentioned a very specific percentage. _Weiss is REALLY good with numbers but she isn't that good._

"Trust me I know how stressful it has been. It has been my job to handle damage control after the unrest caused by Atlas' incompetence. Those fools think they can keep peace everywhere in Remnant but their recent track record proves they are nothing but imbeciles." Hector resentfully said as his right fist clenched up in anger.

Pyrrha to feel uneasy since she knew her older brother was in rant mode and starting to make a bad impression before the rest of her team.

"Atlas has proven that they have gotten soft and weak, but Britannia has shown that they are capable of protecting others and are more efficient in eliminating Grimm than the pathetic Atlesians could be. My precious sister is a prime example of how the Atlesians have gotten weak with her effortlessly defeating the deceitful champion they built since they are not able to properly train a hunter to win a simple tournament."

"We fought alongside some Atlesians and I think they might have done better than me and my team helped me win the fights before the finals," Pyrrha said only for her brother to laugh. "Please Pyrrha, we both know that Atlas is a shadow of what it once was."

Jaune was taking notice that Pyrrha hated being placed on a pedestal and this guy has been doing exactly that. Hector was metaphorically building a monument to Pyrrha that placed her above another kingdom as the champion of another. _No wonder Pyrrha never mentioned him to us._

"You know we have a good friend named Weiss Schnee who is from Atlas and is one of the most impressive fighters I know." Ren said as he took notice of the odd material that Hector's gloves were made from.

"I know of the Schnee Family and their impressive track record of skilled fighters. I respect their skill in the business world and the battlefield but I am sickened by their loyalty to Atlas. At least Weiss was smart enough to jump ship before it sunk like the lost cause it is."

Jaune was starting to get angry with Pyrrha's brother for his constant insults of Atlas but he held his rage in check because of one reason: Hector was Pyrrha's older brother. _If I did something now I am not sure if Pyrrha would hate me for it or not but I can't just stand here and let him insult Weiss and her home like this._

Pyrrha noticed her partner's growing frustration but gave him a look begging him to calm down and do nothing while she handled the situation. "So how long will you be here Hector?"

"I won't be heading back to Mistral until after the celebration is over on Saturday night so sorry I have to leave before your birthday." Hector explained and apologized as he and team JNPR walked towards the car that was waiting for him. "I can have my driver give you a ride back to Beacon if you want. There is a seventy three point six seven percent chance that we will get to the airship back to Beacon before the bus gets back."

"It's fine Hector we can wait for the bus and don't forget about Dad's advice about relying on your semblance too much." Pyrrha advised as Hector had a defeated expression before getting into the car with the Mistral emblem on the side of the door.

"I decided to take all of team JNPR instead of just you as my plus one for the celebration so please explain what will be happening to your team." Hector told his sister before the car drove to the hotel Hector would be staying in.

* * *

 **Lelouch's Base, Mistral**

"It seems like Coco will be having the rest of team CFVY with her for the Masquerade Celebration. This might be a chance for the prince to get out of the base for a few hours to relax and reconnect with his old friends." One of the intelligence officers said as he read a report of Coco's noble status is making her a guest of the celebration.

"It sounds like it would be nice but this report I have right here says a special tactician that works for Schneizel will also be there. It's some guy by the name of Julius Kingsley. Since we haven't heard anything about Rolo since the prince got here, maybe this Julius guy is a disguise of Rolo's?" The officer's companion said as they started to finish forming their daily reports.

"Well it would be a risk I would advise the prince to make since he is smart enough not to get captured or killed by Julius." The first officer said as finished and got up from his workstation.

"You always were more of a risk taker and I am part of the group that thinks Prince Lelouch really cares about Coco but I would bet five Lien that he won't agree to go.

Needless to say but that officer lost five dollars and Lelouch started to plan out his Saturday night which would be the last pleasant one for who knows how long. This last Saturday will be the last day of peace that many will know for a long time.

* * *

 **So yeah there you have it, the newest chapter of the story. So Rolo will now be referred to as Julius since that is his name now. What is up with Hector and his hatred towards Atlesians and how will that affect his first meeting with Weiss and her fellow Atlesian Ice Queen in the next chapter? So what is going to happen on Pyrrha's birthday that is supposedly so bad that peace will end in the kingdoms? Who knows but you will find out next chapter.**

 **I feel sorry for those who watched the latest episode and might have been angry with the hand comments I was making around Yang. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Whether I decide to have Yang keep all of her limbs will be a secret until she loses her hand or the end where she keeps it. I do find it funny though that I somehow predicted someone would lose a hand but I picked the wrong person to suffer.**

 **Well anway this is Bylackbre signing off and will be waiting for you guys for when I post the next chapter in The Black Prince of Remnant. This is Bylackbre signing out.**


	14. A Dance of Masks and Blades

**Hey guys Bylackbre back with the newest chapter of this story for you guys to enjoy. So I almost decided to have this posted on Valentine's day because of not only what happens close to the end of the chapter but also because today marks the day that people that aren't sponsors get access to the Volume 3 Finale but I decided to post today instead. This is the chapter that we finally get over 100,000 words which is something I honest never thought I would reach in just fourteen chapters. Well let's start the chapter and hope Rooster Teeth doesn't ruin Valentine's Day with the season finale. Speaking of Season or rather Volume finale, this reboot was first published on the day the sponsors got the first episode of Volume 3 and this chapter comes out on the day the sponsors got the last episode of Volume 3.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Code Geass**

* * *

 **Saturday**

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

As part of the celebration and since it was neutral territory between the kingdoms, or at least somewhat neutral, Beacon Academy was selected as the location where the celebration would be taking place. This also served the purpose of allowing all the parties involved to have a key location to gather instead of risking getting lost in the city on their way to the celebration.

Hector Nikos and the rest of the Mistral delegation were the first to arrive a few hours before the celebration started so that Pyrrha could give her brother and the others a tour of the academy. Glynda ran into them at one point of Pyrrha's 'tour' and guided the delegation on an actual tour while Pyrrha was left alone with her brother.

"I am impressed with the school you chose and I think you might have made the right decision." Hector said as the two siblings walked down the hallways.

 _Wait is he actually saying he approves of my decision to come here instead of Haven?_ Pyrrha thought as team RWBY came walking down the hall since classes just finished for them.

"We both know that I am very loyal to Mistral but I am fully aware you aren't as loyal as me. I am also fully aware that when the time comes to choose between Mistral and those you call your friends and allies, I am already certain of your decision." Pyrrha's older brother said after Yang waved at Pyrrha. "If something was to ever happen to Beacon Academy I need you to promise me that you will come straight to Haven without hesitation so that I can make sure you stay safe." Hector told her his younger sister who thought about it for a second before agreeing.

"I have a call to make so I will be right over there for a few minutes." Hector said after feeling a little relief about Pyrrha's agreement and walking away to make the call.

"I wasn't aware that your dad was here Pyrrha," Ruby said as her team caught up with Pyrrha. "He must really care about you to come all the way to Vale for the day before your birthday."

"That is actually my older brother Hector. He is here for the meeting that will be taking place during the celebration." Pyrrha explained as Hector continued to talk on the phone while having one hand inside his suit jacket for the duration.

"I wasn't aware that the Nikos family had such powerful connections." Weiss said after Pyrrha explained who the man who was with her was.

"Who exactly is he besides Pyrrha's older brother?" Ruby asked since she never looked into politics except for rare occasions.

"Hector Nikos works directly for the Council and is one of the few members of the Mistral government that if something was to happen to the council or a state of emergency was declared, he would serve as temporary council member until a new one was elected. This way there will always be an odd number of council members instead of an even number that can get into a stalemate concerning a decision." Blake explained before Weiss had a chance to say anything.

"So he is an emergency Council member?" Ruby asked her team members who both nodded.

"In times of emergency he can either replace a dead or absent member but for right now he is working for the council on making sure the kingdom doesn't erupt into a civil war over what country Mistral should align itself with: Atlas or Britannia." Weiss said as she pulled up a news article about an interview with him. "The only thing that worries anyone about him is that he unofficially stands on the Pro-Britannia side of the debate but when asked about it, all he says is that he is 'Pro-Mistral."'

"My brother has always put what's best for the kingdom first in his actions." Pyrrha said with a smile that any observant person would figure is hiding something. "He would never do anything that he sees that would not be beneficial to the kingdom or its citizens."

"If your brother is so 'Pro-Mistral' then why did he approve of your selection to come here to Beacon instead of Haven?" Yang asked since Pyrrha doesn't seem to be the type to argue against those around her and do what they asked.

"Hey you might as well be asking me why I didn't go to Atlas academy instead," Weiss told the brawler as she tended to get annoyed at moments of people asking questions like that.

"Well why didn't you go to Atlas then?" Yang asked the heiress as Yang had to bend over slightly to reach eye level with the person she was talking to.

"Because I wanted to forge my own path instead of follow in the footsteps of my sister and father." Weiss shouted as Hector walked back up to where his little sister was.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything." The taller redhead said before formally introducing himself with a handshake.

 _He definitely has a politician's handshake but he seems to also be holding back._ Weiss thought as she accepted the handshake from the Mistral politician.

Ruby could barely hide the pain in her hand as she could swear the bones in her hand was about to break under Hector's grip. _Here I thought Pyrrha's grip was painful. Do strong handshakes run in the Nikos family?_

After Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Weiss were done introducing themselves, Weiss noticed a barely visible change in the man's expression following her introduction. _Was it something that I said?_ Pyrrha gave one of her iconic apologetic smiles before ushering her brother away before he could start an Atlas rant.

The members of team RWBY just smiled at the pair of siblings before heading back to their dorm to get ready for the celebration.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later**

 **In Transit to Beacon Academy, Vale**

The Masquerade Celebration was about to begin in less than an hour and Lelouch's stealth ship was just landing in a clearing not too far from the city. A car that was being driven by a disguised Unit 024 was waiting at the edge of the clearing to take Lelouch to the celebration.

After they drove into the city, Unit 024 looked into the back seat to where a masked Lelouch was sitting and internally smiled while keeping her expression hidden from Lelouch. _Aigis is going to be jealous of not being able to see what her beloved looks like right now._

Ever since the Battle of Vale, Aigis had been placed on the security detail of the Pendragon Imperial Palace. This benefitted Clovis in two ways since Aigis is doesn't like Schneizel and will keep him away from Clovis and Lelouch would have to fight through a small army of Royal Guardsmen if he wanted to take Aigis back from him.

Lelouch looked out the window and was amazed at the speed of which the city had repaired itself from the damage done during the Grimm Invasion. Craters that were formed when Britannian artillery shells were already filled and buildings that previously had missing chunks from when the Grimm would smash into the walls or Knightmares had been smashed into by the Grimm.

Normally an airship or a normal aerial transport was needed to reach Beacon academy but the land route had been cleared for the guests to travel on and by the time Lelouch and Unit 024 had arrived, the celebration had already started. As they pulled up to the entrance, a valet took the keys from unit 024 and the masked duo walked into the celebration.

* * *

 **The Masquerade Celebration, Beacon Academy**

Lelouch wasn't the first of the guests to arrive though he wasn't the last either. The Atlesians were already here as well the Mistral delegation from what Lelouch could tell. _I wasn't aware that Winter Schnee was supposed to be here._

"Well would you look at that, one of the former Project Pygmalion scientist is here. I guess that will explain why Ice Queen is crashing the party." Unit 024 said as Lelouch looked over at his current bodyguard. She was wearing a gray and white dress that was the same colors as the uniform worn by Lelouch's soldiers though it covered all of her arms and legs to hide that she doesn't have skin but is rather metal. Her mask was a cross between the mask worn by Lelouch's soldiers and the mask worn by the deceased Metis in that it covered her whole face but the pattern looked like a distorted version of Metis' mask pattern which is what she see through.

Lelouch on the other hand was wearing an expensive suit modified to be bulletproof and made of material that would easily allow him to hide his pistol and several spare magazines if caught in a gunfight. The mask he was wearing was made of a black mirrorlike substance that covered all of his head except for his eyes which were the only thing that anyone could see of head. If an emergency were to happen, Lelouch could activate a switch within the mask that would cover his eyes and activate filters to ensure Lelouch breathe clean air.

Lelouch had used the disguise of "The Nobleman" to gain access and moved through the crowd to learn who all was here while Unit 024 moved subtly within hearing distance of the Scientist's conversation. _I know he helped build my generation but I am not sure if he was one of the people behind the executions. If he was one of them, it might be a bit hard to separate him from Winter long enough to kill him and get away with it._

Talking to her younger sister while standing next to a balding man was Winter Schnee. It looked like Winter was introducing her younger sister and Ruby to the older man with her. The older man was wearing his normal lab coat and with a very plain and simple mask while Winter was wearing her full military regale and a mask that was a Schnee Family heirloom.

"I have heard a lot about you from Penny Ms. Rose," the older man told Ruby. Ruby recognized the name of her former friend and smiled under her wolfish mask before frowning at the memory of Penny's death.

"I am sorry I wasn't able to do anything to stop what happened. I really tried but some kind of monstrous being that impersonated Mercury Black and Labrys stalled me." Ruby apologized as she looked away from the older man and down at her red caped dress.

"Don't worry about that Ms. Rose, You were the first and best friend that she ever had and if we rebuild her or make a second generation of her, I will be sure to let you be one of the first people to see the finished product." The older man just smiled after saying this as Pyrrha followed her older brother towards the four people.

"I thought I recognized you when you walked in here." Hector said as he moved past Unit 024 and Pyrrha apologized to the mechanical maiden. _So that is my little cousin's killer? I may not technically be related to that Penny girl but that doesn't mean I can't feel sorry for her._ Unit 024 thought after telling Pyrrha that nothing was wrong.

"I am surprised that you trust each other enough for you to trust her with your protection and you don't trust him to betray you," Hector said only for Weiss, Winter, and Penny's 'father' to glare at him.

"Why are you calling me a traitor? I have no recollections of betraying anyone." The scientist asked as he started to get agitated and confused at the man's accusations.

"It isn't a person that you betrayed but rather an entire kingdom when you defected to Atlas. It was a shame that you were amongst those that were part of Project Pygmalion but defected when captured." Hector said as the scientist realized what exactly Hector was talking about and remembered who he was.

"I am sorry that your political allies see me as a traitor but it was either die as a member of Mistral Britannia or live and redeem myself in servitude to a more benevolent kingdom." The scientist said trying to justify his actions and revealing that his options were either die or join.

"Tis better to die with honorable loyalty than live as a traitor," Hector stated while looking up at the ceiling to show that he didn't even give the scientist the honor of being glared at for his betrayal of Mistral. The grieving scientist was already balling his fist and was about to punch the younger man but was unaware that a hidden camera captured a picture of him about to hit Hector only for Winter to stop him before he started an incident.

"I apologize that you feel that this very 'honorable' man has offended you and the rest of your kingdom Mr. Nikos but I am here to represent Atlas on General Ironwood's orders so if you have any quarrel with us, let me know." Winter said as she moved between Hector and Penny's 'father.'

"I am surprised that Atlas has even decided to show its foolish face after how it incompetently handled the initial Grimm outbreak in Vale and Roman Torchwick." Hector said with such a tone that Pyrrha was getting nervous of a potential fight and was backing away very slowly.

"The technology that Atlas has developed has done more than make up for the slight mistakes that were made during the Vytal Festival. It was our medical science that helped the medical teams assist with the aftermath and injuries from the battle." Winter calmly replied in a voice that Weiss could tell meant bad news if Hector continued. "You know I don't remember seeing any Mistral military forces assisting in the fight against the Grimm."

"We would have been more than willing to come and rescue the students that were left to fend for themselves but the Treaty of Mistral prevents us from building a military that has the capability of acting as anything but a defense force with no combat capable airships at our disposal." Hector said as he referenced the treaty that liberated Mistral from Britannia and made the kingdom reliant on Atlas for defense. "I will admit that your medical technology is impressive. What is more impressive however is your military technology was also very impressive when it was used to shoot down your own airships and not only kill your own soldiers but also dozens of students and civilians."

One of the most hated parts of the treaty that Atlas made sure to enforce by any means necessary was the strangulation of the Mistral military. Atlas ensured that Mistral would never be a threat to anyone ever again by preventing them from getting to be anywhere near as powerful as they once were during the age of Mistral Britannia. The Mistral navy was nearly nonexistent and the air force was a joke since they weren't allowed to have any flight capable aircraft besides civilian airships. Atlas also stole the prototype Glasgows that would be reversed engineered into the prototypes for the Atlesian Paladins.

A scowl grew on Winter's face at Hector's remark about the Atlesian Knights' betrayal and how he justified the lack of Mistral support by making it look like more than just technology backfired in Atlas' face. "I had several friends that died because of the virus that affected the knights and a few of those friends that died were the developers of the Knights. So I kindly request that you do not speak ill of the dead."

"More than a few students from Haven were amongst the hundreds that died that fateful day and while you may have lost friends, there are families that are barely surviving in villages that had to be informed that their sons or daughters wouldn't be coming home. It's one thing to be informed of your own grown child had been killed by something their superiors created or themselves built, but it is completely different when you are having to tell parents that their child won't be coming back without a chance to grow up and see what the future has in store for them." Hector lamented with a saddened look as he remembered the reports of how the parents reacted to the news of their children's death.

"Had Atlas been more capable of handling their prisoners and didn't design such machines that were either defective like the knights or failures like that mechanical spy you had built, then maybe there wouldn't be as much blood on your hands." Hector said as a small crowd started to form around the two representatives. _Are you going to slip up and cause another incident that will appear in the news or not?_

Winter fell right into Hector's hands when she adopted a furious look on her face and placed her hand on her weapon. "I will not stand for you to slander Atlas' reputation the way you seem intent on doing. Since you do not seemed convinced that Atlas has any honor or competence, why don't we take this argument outside and I can show you our honor in a duel?" Winter snapped as Hector's face changed into an expression of confused innocence and the hidden camera caught a picture of the two while making it look like Winter was prepared to cut down Hector.

Weiss just looked at Winter with a concerned expression since even though she didn't know the combat capabilities of Hector, she knew that no matter the outcome, Hector's position within Mistral made this a bad situation no matter how you look at it. If Hector accepts and Winter wins, Hector can easily make it look like Winter embodies everyone's view that Atlas prefers to keep Mistral in a defeated state rather than a position of power. If Hector was to win however, it would further the Anti-Atlesian movement in Mistral even more with this Atlesian specialist being shown up by a Mistral politician who didn't even have proper hunter or military training.

"Miss Schnee I would like to see how honorable an Atlesian is in a fight since all of you hide behind robots who fight for you." Hector said as he guided the way for the two to walk out to the courtyard with their small crowd following them out of the room. _There was more than an eighty percent chance that she would challenge me to a duel._

"I am going to see how this fight between the elder Schnee and the elder Nikos plays out," Unit 024 whispered to Lelouch before following the crowd outside. It was at that moment when the room became less crowded that Lelouch caught sight of Coco. "Well here goes nothing," Lelouch told himself as he started to make his way to Coco.

* * *

"There is a seventy four percent chance that your first strike I will be able to block with an eighty percent chance of me providing a counterattack in response." Hector told his opponent as they continued to walk towards where their match would be.

"If you do not shut up I will not hesitate to cut your tongue out to shut you up." Winter growled only for Hector to give a cocky chuckle in response.

"There was a sixty three percent chance of you saying something about cutting out my tongue."

"I will enjoy making sure your mouth is exactly where it deserves to be once this fight is over."

"Luck had better be on your side since I have an eighty seven percent chance of winning this match without much damage to my aura." Hector told the Atlesian specialist as his semblance started to calculate the chances of thing happening before showing him the most likely odds of the course of the battle. _Those are some odds that I haven't had the pleasure of seeing since the warehouse phase of my grand plan._

* * *

Thanks to the nature of Coco's weapon being in the form of a fashionable purse when not a minigun, Coco liked to carry it around with her to almost every event she went to. This was one of the events she has gone to where her weapon is slung around her shoulder. "It's nice to see you here." Lelouch told her as he walked up to her.

Besides wearing her purse/weapon, Coco was wearing the dress she had originally planned to wear to the dance she convinced team RWBY to take care of with assistance from the Ashford Academy Student Council. Her mask made her look even more attractive than normal to the point that she almost had a diving level of beauty. "Do you mind if me and Lelouch have a private conversation?" Velvet was asked and who graciously agreed to before walking over to the refreshments table.

"You have a lot of explaining to do and I think we both need to go somewhere you won't be overheard." Coco said as she guided Lelouch out to the Beacon Academy Gardens which were in the opposite direction of Winter's duel with Hector. "Three months with no messages and no proper goodbye can make a girl very angry. It doesn't help when the girl WAS your fiancé who had a lot trust in you." Coco said once they were in a private setting.

"I know it wasn't the smartest move but the longer I was in Vale, the more likely Schneizel was to capture and kill me. I would have given a proper goodbye and maybe take you with me but there wasn't a good time to do it at the moment." Lelouch said as he started to try to explain but was slammed against a pillar by Coco who was pressing her unfolded minigun into his gut.

"Not having enough time is one of the worst excuses you could have used. You had better come up with a better apology before I decide to see how 'holy' a prince of the Holy Britannian Empire can get." Coco said with Lelouch being able to see her glare beneath her mask and the barrels of her minigun started to rotate ever so slowly. "You know I hate these 'Britannian style' discussions." Coco told Lelouch while waiting for his apology.

 _Yep she is angrier than I predicted. The logical argument for her abandonment was definitely the wrong way to attempt reconciliation,_ Lelouch thought at first. "I know I really hurt you but that was the last thing I would ever want to do. You are probably angry at me for knocking your team unconscious for the battle but I did it to keep them out of harm's way and to stop them from trying to stop my plan to stall Schneizel. I didn't want you to get angry at me or blame yourself if I got them hurt by keeping them in the battle. I left Aigis with you to keep you safe in case Schneizel tried to send assassins after you but I never suspected that you and Aigis would go up against a small army of Grimm on your own. You know that I am prideful enough to never say I am an idiot but that is exactly what I was. I don't deserve forgiveness for betraying you for three months but can you at least understand?"

Coco continued to glare as she deciphered his words for any alternative meanings before transforming her minigun back into her purse. "I am extremely disappointed in your choice of actions but I do understand and somewhat forgive you. That is still not how you treat your fiancé in that situation though."

Lelouch was relieved to not have the minigun pressed into his gut but he did stiffen when he felt an uncommon experience rush over his body. Coco didn't notice how stiff Lelouch's body got when she hugged him which was an uncommon sensation that he didn't really experience very often. "I am just glad that I got to see you safe."

Right when Lelouch was recovering from the shock of the hug and hug Coco back, his scroll received a notification from Unit 024 that made his eyes go wide in fear. Coco swore she heard him mutter something about Velvet before rushing away and losing track of where her ex-fiancé went. "Did he really just run off without saying goodbye again?"

What had made Lelouch nervous and rush away from Coco was a picture of Julius Kingsley walking towards the area where the celebration was supposed to be.

* * *

 _So this is how they celebrate a temporary peace?_ Julius thought to himself as he adjusted his mask slightly and noticed Velvet over to the side. _Didn't realize rabbit hunting was so easy._

"I wasn't aware that you changed Lelouch," Velvet said as Julius walked towards her. "Well um something happened and I had to get a better disguise." _I wasn't aware the cowardly prince was here as well. These idiots are making my job oh so easy._

"Is something wrong with your voice? You voice sounds a little off." Velvet noted as she took a close look at the outfit 'Lelouch' was wearing.

Julius was wearing a Britannian style suit that and gloves while his mask is what was the most unique thing about his disguise. Julius' mask was one that covered all of his face except for his good eye. The pattern on it was identical the one on his eyepatch but centered on the mask so that the part that would cover his good eye was missing. To help differentiate himself from Lelouch, Julius grew his hair out slightly longer than Lelouch's but Velvet didn't realize this since Lelouch was wearing a mask that covered his whole head while Julius was wearing one that coverered most of his face instead.

"I have just been under the weather recently that's all." Julius lied as to not let Velvet realize that he wasn't Lelouch. "You know, I always find you more attractive than Coco," Julius said and was pleased when a blush was visible under the Faunus' mask. _So she is easy to emotionally manipulate._

"Coco wouldn't be happy to hear that," Velvet said as Julius pulled himself closer to her.

"Well she isn't here so she doesn't have to know right?" Julius said as he turned his mask slightly to reveal his mouth and kissed Velvet right as Coco came into view and witnessed 'Lelouch's' betrayal of her.

 _This is going to get very interesting,_ Julius thought as he saw Coco and then abandoned Velvet to hide in the crowd. Coco however didn't know who she was madder at, her best friend who was seen kissing her ex fiancé or said ex fiancé who Coco still had feelings for yet seeming betrayed them just now.

Velvet got out of the daze that was Julius' kiss and then saw Coco. Velvet tried to plead with her eyes that she doesn't know what just happened but the response she got from her partner's eyes were pure anger and disappointment.

Velvet's shoulders and rabbit ears just drooped with sadness as Coco ran into the crowd with her face turned away from Velvet. _I didn't do anything though._

* * *

"I will give you one last chance to call off the duel before you humiliate yourself and Atlas." Hector said as the two combatants reached the place they would be fighting.

"You have insulted Atlas too many times to be forgiven that easily," Winter said as she drew her sword and immediately split it into two.

"Going all out already? Well I guess I will let the offended party have the first strike." Hector said as he subtly slid his gloves on his hands before reaching into his suit. _Let's see how well you fare._

Right as Hector finished his thought, Winter used her glyphs to shoot towards Pyrrha's brother faster than the audience could keep track. What surprised the audience was how easily Hector blocked the two speeding sword with nothing more than a metal rod he pulled out of his suit.

"Is that the best you got?" Hector asked as an ax blade unfolded from the metal rod and almost hit Winter with a single strike. Winter almost heard an electrical like noise coursing through the gloves before she was forced to jump back and summoned two fake Beowolves to distract Hector.

"Eighty seven percent chance of hitting on the way back," Hector told himself aloud as he threw his ax and quickly killed the first Beowolf. Winter avoided the ax when it came racing towards her and just shook her head.

"I know it looks cool to throw your weapon but I doubt that it will be coming back anytime soon." Winter said as Hector's ax imbedded itself in a pillar. Glynda was elsewhere at the moment but had a strange feeling that property damage was just done on campus.

"I wouldn't so sure if I were you." Hector smugly said as he held out one of his gloved hands and thanks to very strong electromagnetics, the ax came flying back to him at a very high speed.

Winter felt the back of her head get hit by the ax handle before Hector's ax sliced into the artificial Beowolf's back and killed it. "See I told you it would come back," Hector said as he pulled the ax out of the disenegrating Grimm and started to transform the weapon.

"Let's see how you like this then," Winter said as she summoned a large flock of mini Nevermores. This tactic that was previously used against Qrow proved to be even less effective against Hector's transformed ax.

Ruby and Weiss watched in amazement as the ax became a submachine gun like a PPSH-41 and just shredded the fake Grimm. "Do you see how fast that gun is firing?" Ruby asked as Hector was using his semblance to calculate the odds of hitting each Nevermore before it would reach him. The rapid fire of the submachinegun proved to be too much for the artificial constructs as the hail of bullets pierced the birds and a few even impacted Winter's aura.

Utilizing the same tactic that her sister had against Flynt, Winter created a ring of glyphs around Hector and proceeded to bombard him with strikes until halfway through she had to stop.

"That can't be right or even possible!" Weiss told Ruby as Winter was stuck dead in her tracks by Hector grabbing hold of Winter's left hand sword. Unit 024 was even surprised as she saw Hector magnetize Winter's sword to his hand before yanking it out of her grip. Weiss watched in horror as her sister screamed in pain as an electrical current raced through Winter's body until she released the weapon Hector was grabbing.

"Sure you want to continue fighting?" Hector asked as he transformed his submachine gun back into an ax so he was dual wielding an ax and sword. It took Winter a second to recover before nodding and being placed on the defensive.

"So you are still using that tactic?" Ruby heard Pyrrha say before going over to the redhead and asking her to explain. "Hector's gloves are a second and sneakier weapon than people realize. It is similar to my semblance in that it can manipulate magnetics but he does it through electricity. He made his ax out of a special material that will immediately come back to the gloves once they were activated and the disarming trick is something he used to do during my training sessions. Usually he will either do what he just did to Winter or magnetize their weapon to his ax to prevent them from using it while he defeats them. He did the electricity trick on me multiple times while training me for the regional tournaments so that I can endure more pain if someone tried to electrify me with a weapon."

Ruby processed what Pyrrha was saying as Hector used Winter's own sword as a weapon while using his ax to prevent Winter from hitting him with the sword Hector didn't take from her. Weiss could tell that Winter was getting agitated by the fight and was becoming more reckless with her fighting style.

"Come on Winter you can do this." Weiss shouted right before Hector parried a strike from Winter and got her sword stuck in the ground. Winter then rolled out of the way of the next ax swing but after she managed to retrieve her sword, she knew she was beat. Hector had both his ax and Winter's sword crossed across her neck in a position to where he could easily decapitate her if this was an actual fight.

"It seems that the best that Atlas brought wasn't up to the challenge today." Hector said as he drove Winter's sword into the ground next to her and had the ax fold itself back up before going back into his suit. "You might have stood a better chance had your military not relied on defective drones so much and trained their specialists better."

Winter just gave a resigned look to the ground before dusting off her outfit and walking back to where the celebration took place. What she wasn't aware of while walking away was that Hector's mysterious camera that was placed in multiple unknown places had captured a picture of the fight's finale and was already formulating how to turn it into an article about Atlesian inferiority.

"While I am glad that my brother won but I don't like how this is going to appear in the news," Pyrrha said as she hung her head and followed the crowd back to the main area of the celebration. Ruby was a bit confused by Pyrrha's words but decided to think about them later instead of now.

* * *

Back at the celebration, Velvet was looking for Coco and 'Lelouch' when she accidently ran into the real Lelouch whose eyes looked relieved to see her. "Ok you are safe so that is good but where is Coco?" Lelouch asked before Velvet could say anything.

"We need to find her quickly before Julius Kingsley can get a hold of her. Oh yeah I don't know if you have heard yet or not but our old friend Rolo has changed his name and came here." Lelouch warned as Velvet finally realized what exactly happened earlier.

"You need to be careful out there. Julius has already deceived me and Coco into thinking he is you so be careful and Coco might be a bit angry at you for something he did." Velvet warned as her cheeks started to blush and help Lelouch find the fashionista in the crowd.

It only took a slight glint of sliver in the crowd for the pair's attention to be turned to a sight that seemed worrisome before becoming horrific. The sight of Julius dancing with Coco was enough to drive chills down their back but Velvet was on the verge of panicking when she barely noticed a small metal object that could have been a small knife placed between two of Coco's vertebrae.

"That bastard sure has a lot of guts," Velvet heard Lelouch growl as they witnessed Julius pressing the knife as far into Coco without actually breaking skin. "I need you to follow my lead because we are going to shut this bastard down now." Velvet nodded as Lelouch pulled her close to him and the pair started to slowly dance towards Julius and Coco.

"You wouldn't mind trading partners would you?" Lelouch asked as when he was behind Julius and traded Velvet for Coco. _Stay safe Velvet,_ was Lelouch's thought after Velvet subtly disarmed Julius and passed the knife to Lelouch.

"Wait I thought he was wait you're not telling me that oh come on." Coco groaned as she realized that the man threatening her life wasn't actually Lelouch.

"I am sorry for what I did back in the gardens. Unit 024 informed me that Rolo, or Julius as he prefers to be called now, was here. I rushed here as fast as I could to save Velvet from him but I accidently got lost and he managed to reach you before I can make sure you and Velvet are safe." Lelouch apologized as the two dance with Lelouch keeping Velvet in his sight at all times.

"So you came to make sure that Velvet is safe by putting me at risk and then placing Velvet in a situation that can be just as dangerous? If he does something to her I will lose all the affection I have for you and personally hunt you down." Coco warned as the pair worked to make sure that Velvet stayed safe.

Julius was furious that the prince and this stupid Faunus stopped his plan but maybe he can have a backup prize in the form of this Faunus. "I hope you know that you aren't going to leave here alive." Julius growled into Velvet's ear quietly enough that nobody but Velvet heard him.

"I doubt you will get the chance to kill me and Coco would rather kill you before you lay a finger on me." Velvet told him as she kept up the appearance that the two were getting along while dancing.

"It's a good thing I already have my hand on you soft yet cold back. If I didn't hate you so much for being an ally of the traitorous prince, I might even find you attractive and spare you from the fate all those who stand with him will suffer from. Even if I don't kill you tonight, the coming war will surely see to your end when your team is sent on a mission to the front lines." Julius said as he pulled Velvet closer to him before twirling her around.

Velvet looked into his eyes and realized that Julius' eyes reminded her of some kind of predatory hunter who had already captured his prey. _Stay strong Velvet, don't let him get to you._

"I am feeling generous today so I will tell you what my plans actually are since there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop what will be coming in the morning. A large Britannian military force is hidden off the coast of Mistral and are waiting for me to give the order to launch airstrikes against a multitude of villages before the main invasion force lands and begins to march towards the city of Mistral where they will burn all the people and buildings to the grounds. After the capital has fallen, I will personally see to the destruction of Haven academy and the execution of all the students who thought that the hunter lifestyle, their school, and their kingdom will protect them." Julius told the rabbit Faunus as he dipped her and continued to whisper into her ear.

"When Mistral is done burning to the ground we will find where Lelouch is hiding and I will personally mail his severed head to Coco so she can keep it as a reminder of what WE are capable of. We will justify this invasion as our hunt for the woman behind the Battle of Beacon who claimed to be from Mistral when really it is to destroy an enemy and hunt Lelouch's faction into extinction." Julius said with a smile as he looked Velvet in the eyes. "I am telling you all of this because there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. I will be sure to save you for last when we come for everyone here at Beacon." Julius told the Faunus right before an announcement was made for all the delegates to meet in another room for the actual meeting.

"If I learn that you told a single soul of what I revealed to you, I will let Lelouch know that you were the one that caused me to kill Nunally since I managed to track her down." Julius told Velvet before walking away.

Once Julius was gone, Lelouch and Coco rushed over to Velvet to check on her but she refused to say anything about what Julius said. _If I say a single word about his plan, Lelouch would never be able to forgive me._

Unit 024 casually walked over to Lelouch and informed him that now would be a good time to get away since they won't have to worry about Julius following them for a little while. "I understand and go have the Valet retrieve the car," Lelouch ordered the android who nodded and walked away.

"I am sorry for how I acted earlier and I will even allow you to continue surrounding yourself with beautiful women but you have to promise me to stay safe and loyal to me ok?" Coco jokingly asked Lelouch after Unit 024 walked away.

Lelouch's response shocked Coco as he nodded in agreement before pulling off his mask and kissing Coco to reassure her of his loyalty. "You have nothing to worry about. All preparations up until now have been taken care of." Lelouch told Coco before putting the mask/helmet back on and his car arrived.

Velvet had to stop herself from laughing at the dumbstruck expression on Coco's face. Coco recovered just as Lelouch was entering his car and told him goodnight before he drove away.

"I think it's time that we call it a night Coco." Velvet told her partner as the duo started to walk towards their dorm.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later**

 **HMNS Pendragon, International Waters**

As soon as the meeting was over, Julius furiously found out his prey had escaped so he called it quits and started his trip back to the naval fleet. The HMNS Pendragon was the largest of the Britannian Battleship Carriers and would serve as his command center for the initial stages invasion of Mistral.

"We are waiting for your orders in the CIC Sir Kingsley," one of the naval officers told Julius. The officer then guided Julius to the CIC where a large holographic map showed him the air squadrons and troop transports that were ready to invade were.

"Launch the airstrikes and missile barrages. Mistral will finally fly the Britannian flag once more." Julius ordered as orders were relayed to the bombers to target the different villages around the capital while helicopters and amphibious transports started to deliever soldiers from the ships and onto the land.

 _When this pathetic kingdom falls, I will come for you with everything I have Lelouch._ Julius thought as he looked down at a file in front of him. The project was for an experimental superweapon and part of project Alfada' Almayit. _This weapon will surely drive you out of whatever hole you are hiding in if it doesn't kill you._

This invasion wasn't completely out of the blue for Hector who had just arrived back in the capital city and was called to meet with the Council. _This is going to a very interesting predicament over the next few days. I will definitely need Pyrrha here to ensure her safety in case an Atlesian or Britannian assassin comes after her._

* * *

 **There you have it people. Julius has officially had war declared on Mistral with Lelouch being the end result and the hunt for Cinder and *Spoiler Character* being the secondary objectives besides the kingdom. I thought since I was publishing this on the day before Valentine's Day to include something somewhat heartwarming before the part where Julius starts the invasion. For those of you who are optimistic that Mistral and Haven will not fall to Julius, well just wait and hope is all that I will say concerning that. Also Alfada' Almayit is a very meaningful name for the weapon if you know Arabic or at least the Arabic that Google Translate uses. If you don't want spoilers for what the weapon could be, don't look it up. I wonder if anyone caught the major callback that was in this chapter and the major secret that was revealed with the callback. So anyway this Bylackbre signing out and hoping you guys and girls have a good Valentine's Day this 2016.**


	15. The Execution of the Hidden Plans

**Hey guys and gals I am back with the newest chapter of the story. So war has broken out in Remnant between Britannia and Mistral. Will Atlas come to its protectorate's defense or will Mistral be left to fend for itself against the might of the empire? How long can Lelouch last in his fortress before he is forced to retreat from it? What will it take to destroy the underground citadel Lelouch is hidden in? Oh and who is ready to see the largest naval vessel in the Britannian Navy?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Code Geass**

* * *

 **Mistral Council Hall, Capital City of Mistral**

Even though the capital city had been left untouched by the initial airstrike from the Britannian fleet led by Julius, this doesn't mean that it didn't have a psychological effect on the citizens in the city. Those who were supportive of Britannia were happy but scared for their lives since they wanted the restoration of Britannia's power to come more peacefully. Those who feared the return of the Britannians were panicking and waiting for the Atlesians to push the Britannians back.

It was because of those reactions and Britannia's unexpected invasion that caused Hector to be called to the Council Hall after he contacted Pyrrha to come back to the capital as soon as possible. Pyrrha tried to argue that it would be better for her to stay in Vale but Hector ordered her to arrive as soon as possible so Pyrrha was on an hour and a half flight to her home kingdom.

It took Hector twenty minutes to get through traffic in the capital before having to wait another twenty minutes to get through the emergency security protocols to actually reach the meeting chamber of the Mistral Council. When Hector actually reached the chamber, he was infuriated that he was told the wrong information and his superiors were actually in the war room with a few of the leaders of the Mistral military rather than their officially meeting chamber.

"It took you long enough Nikos, what the hell is going on out there? I thought a peace conference was supposed to be happening last night? Why is it that the Britannians decided to wage a war against us a few hours after the conference was over?" The head councilman asked after Hector arrived ten minutes later.

"It appears that Britannia decided to deceive us into a false sense of security. I made a few calls on my way here and have discovered that Atlas won't be sending any help our way." Hector said as he walked towards a holographic projector and started to input some coordinates.

"The Mistral nautical society sent some pictures that may be Britannia's attempt to deter Atlesian intervention." Hector explained as the sea north of Mistral appeared with a second Britannian fleet appearing.

"That can't be possible I remember when that ship was sunk the first time. It took nearly the entire Atlesian navy with it twenty five years ago." The oldest of the councilmen said as the image of the HMNS Ladon became clearer.

Twenty Five years ago during the Atlesian invasion of Mistral Britannia to liberate it from the empire, the HMNS Ladon served as the biggest obstacle for the Atlesians to overcome. This ship was the largest official construction project ever attempted by the empire even though the Mistral Mountain Fortress could arguably rival it in scope. The Holy Britannia was the world's largest mobile offshore base and was a symbol of the Holy Britannian Empire's naval strength in Remnant.

The HMNS Ladon had enough factories and barracks that over thirty percent of the Britannian military hardware was produced on the ship with a crew of nearly fifty thousand. The cannons that lined the edge of the vessel protected the ship from amphibious assaults while the aircraft and SAMs protected the ship from aerial threats. The Britannians relied heavily on the Holy Britannia for their military so when Atlas managed to sink her at the cost of most of its naval capacity, nearly made Mistral Britannia into a pushover thanks to the low morale.

Many veterans of the Atlesian liberation reported that after the fall of the Ladon, many Britannian soldiers they encountered were motivated to avenge the tens of thousands of their brethren that they lost in the sinking but didn't have the morale to put up much of a fight. Some reports even indicated that the despair felt by some bases were enough to warrant a large scale Grimm attack on the bases and kill everyone before the Atlesians got even close.

The mere fact that such a monstrous ship was either repaired or an identical replica was rebuilt signified that Britannia was capable of keeping many military secrets from the rest of Remnant. _I wouldn't be surprised if they used the Ladon's own facilities to repair it._ The eldest councilmember thought as he stared at the ship that was several times larger than any ship built before or after it.

"The presence of the HMNS Ladon in the ocean between us and Atlas is probably enough to deter Atlas from intervening unless they want the Ladon's full capabilities unleashed on them." Hector said as an alert that Britannian drop ships were already being deployed to support the paratroopers and marines that had already taken the coast Julius' fleet were stationed at.

Everyone looked at the map nervously and Hector's semblance predicted a ninety seven point nine percent chance of his next move being a success.

"We have less than forty eight hours until the Britannian invasion force reaches the city and Prime Minister Schneizel pressures us to surrender. I know the Council would be too stubborn to accept the offer which would doom us all. Britannia would then probably split Mistral into several different areas." Hector said as several military officers exited the room and the Councilmembers looked at Hector with a confused look.

"What are you talking about Nikos? We are aware that Britannia outguns us but surely even your semblance can predict that there is a chance that we can sue for peace and have Britannia returns to prewar boundaries?" The councilmember that Hector mostly reported to asked as nobody realized that Pyrrha's flight arrived way ahead of schedule and she was waiting right outside the room and was trying to politely persuade a guard to let her in since her brother was inside.

"You are correct that there is a chance for Mistral to come out on top of this war but would you like to know the percentage of that happening, zero point zero zero zero zero two five three percent. The odds of Britannia accepting Mistral to return to its former position as Mistral Britannia is ninety eight percent if you aren't around." Hector reported as his weapon unfolded into its PPSH-41 form as he pulled it out of his suit and opened fire.

Hector was pragmatic in that he targeted the former huntsmen and soldiers as his first priority. The first hunter tried to use a halberd to attack Hector but the huntsman missed and had three bullets drill through his head after Hector dodged the halberd and shoved his own submachine gun's barrel into the hunter's mouth. A bear Faunus huntress tried to get him with her shotgun but Hector pushed to gun away at an angle that took out the youngest of the councilmembers for him. She then tried to turn the shotgun into a club but Hector snatched it out of her hands before she could and shot her in the stomach and head before dropping her weapon.

Another hunter attempted to use a harpoon gun to impale Pyrrha's older brother though Hector barely dodged the attack. Hector looked at the tear in his suit before grabbing the harpoon and electrifying throwing it like Pyrrha throws her javelin. The harpoon pierced through the chest of the fourth and final hunter as the harpooner reloaded. Hector slid across the table and fired at a trio of soldiers before reaching the harpooner.

Hector's opponent tried to shot him with the newly reloaded harpoon gun but Hector threw a powerful elbow into his opponent's gut while snatching the harpoon gun from him. Hector then slammed the hunter's weapon into its master's back before swiftly executing the hunter with a harpoon to the back of the head. The soldiers took a second to recover from the rapid death of the four hunters before moving into position to kill the traitorous government official.

One soldier decided to throw a grenade at Hector but didn't expect him to flip his submachine gun over and swat the explosive back at the soldier causing his death and two other military personnel.

The eldest councilmember tried to reach for a button that would bring all the guards to the room to provide backup but wasn't fast enough. Hector saw what the man was doing and fired his weapon at the man's back killing him. Hector then fired a few rounds at the button to destroy it before redirecting his attention to the soldiers who started to fire at his position.

The room was normally soundproof and so Pyrrha and the guard didn't hear the fighting going on inside until they heard a heavy thud come from the door as if something heavy was slammed into it. Right as that happened, the guard looked down to see blood start to pool from the other side of the door and readied his weapon before moving to open the door.

Pyrrha stood a few feet away from the doorway and watched in horror as the corpse of the final councilmember fell to the ground with what looked like Hector's ax in the back of his head. _What in the world happened in there Hector!?_ Pyrrha quickly got her answer as Hector pulled the ax out and decapitated the guard in one fluid motion before the guard could shoot and kill Hector like the soldiers tried.

"Sorry you had to see something like that Pyrrha, new beginnings can be somewhat messy." Hector apologized while cleaning his weapon before stuffing it back inside his slightly ruined suit. "If you could wait a few minutes I will explain everything but I need to place a call real quick before any more blood is needlessly spilled."

Pyrrha was smart and she tried to process the sight in the room but the massacre in the room was baffling her since Hector shouldn't be able to do anything like this. Pyrrha almost puked when she was the sight of the corpses of the halberd wielding hunter who had part of the back of his head missing while lying next to the bear Faunus who the halberd user was recently married to according to the news. Pyrrha's stomach completely lost it as she saw the harpooner with a harpoon going through his left eye which was hanging from the tip of the harpoon.

While Pyrrha was emptying her stomach at the sight before her, Hector was finally able to reach Schneizel from his scroll. "It is an honor to be able to get a hold of you at this hour Prince Schneizel. My name is Hector Nikos and I am currently the acting head of the Council of Mistral."

"I was wondering when I would be able to get in contact with your council. I will admit however that I did not expect it after my subordinate had begun mobilizing ground support." The Prime minister replied through his scroll while working on one of the many mountains of paperwork Clovis left for him.

"I understand and the previous council had to be relieved of power to prevent further lives from being lost on either of our sides. I am calling to inform you that I can send a signal that would mark Mistral's reintroduction into the empire as Mistral Britannia. I only ask that hostilities come to an end and those who swear loyalty to the empire are not executed." Hector offered as he pulled out a second scroll and started to type up a message to the other leaders of the pro Britannia movement within Vale.

"I will accept those terms as long as the lives of soldiers is always a hard cost to pay to obtain what can be peacefully negotiated. As soon as this call is over I expect your soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender to my forces who will spare those that surrender. I will also have my subordinate move to your capital to oversee the Britannian operations until he is no longer needed in the kingdom. All Hail Britannia Archduke Nikos." Schneizel said as he hung up on the newly appointed Archduke of Mistral Britannia.

It was before Hector even got the chance to put the first scroll away and send the execution message to his associates that Pyrrha decided to attack her older brother.

Hector was shocked by his sister's action and was barely able to put his ax between him and Pyrrha's sword. "What in the world do you think you are doing Pyrrha?"

"I don't know why you sold out Mistral but I do know that I can at least stop you from doing whatever it was you were going to do with that scroll." Pyrrha said as she slammed her shield into her brother while reaching for the second scroll.

"I did this for a better future for Mistral and you. I did everything to ensure a better destiny than what the council would have forced upon everyone." Hector shouted as he threw his ax to block Pyrrha's hand from reaching the scroll. Hector really didn't want to hurt Pyrrha and was even willing to face a firing squad for his sister than have to fight her. Hector was certain that Pyrrha knew this so her reasoning for attacking him after securing their future confused the hell out of him.

"The thing about destiny is that you can't change it. Destiny is a predetermined fate given to everyone, it's not free will where you can change it however you want. No matter how much you think you can change fate, it will always come out as intended." Pyrrha argued as she tried to sweep her brother's feet from beneath him.

Usually Hector's semblance allowed him to predict the likelihood of his opponent's next move but Pyrrha's actions confused him enough that his semblance was having a hard time keeping track of anything. The result of this confusion was that when Pyrrha swept him off his feet, he managed to grab hold of the scroll and press send but his weapon slid out of his reach.

"Why did you betray Mistral?" Pyrrha asked as she kicked her brother onto his back and placed her spear point at his jugular. Hector was honestly baffled at why his sister had tears forming in her eyes. _Why doesn't she see that I did everything for a better future?_

"Several months before the Vytal festival me and several associates started to form a plan to restore Mistral to its former status as Mistral Britannia. We formed this plan as we noticed that Pax Atlesian was about to start to crumble with an imminent Mistral invasion occurring when Britannia saw a weakness in Atlas. I was the main field operative for us and therefore had to place myself in a dangerous situation by negotiating with people who could easily cause the conspiracy to implode on itself. One of the most dangerous incidents for me was a meeting with the White Fang in Area 11 that led to me killing quite a few of the terrorist before having to send a subordinate to take care of that Kallen girl to secure my escape." Hector explained while revealing that he was actually Kallen's target that night many months ago.

Pyrrha was starting to become more disappointed with her brother as he continued to explain his actions that led up to the fall of Mistral. "I had another subordinate within the conspiracy manipulate the Britannians into accepting an offer to compete in the Vytal festival while I worked on obtaining a copy of the operation program for the Atlesian 210s. Once I had the copy, I had a computer technician by the name of the James or something create a virus that would allow someone to hijack the orders for the knights." It was after this that Pyrrha realized that Hector was the origin of the Queen Virus that the mysterious voice released on the Atlesian knights following her match with Penny.

"I gave the virus to the woman who absorbed half of the Fall Maiden powers and had her agree to humiliate Atlas while drawing Britannian attention to Mistral in exchange for the virus. She agreed to my terms and I watched from here as the battle of beacon occurred a few weeks later. I knew that unless we struck a deal to restore Mistral as Mistral Britannia, the entire kingdom would be reduced to many fractured Areas to prevent reunification." Hector finished as Pyrrha learned the whole truth behind her brother's manipulation of nearly everyone.

Pyrrha didn't notice as Hector slid a glove on and tried to have his weapon return to him. Hector's semblance continuously changed the percentage of his next move being a success and thus he had to gamble on the ax head not imbedding itself into Pyrrha's head.

Pyrrha barely realized what was about to happen when she heard the ax make a clanking sound upon hitting the metal floor before tumbling in the air towards her. The speed at which the ax was moving was faster than Hector intended and the ax head came flying towards Pyrrha's shield. Pyrrha screamed in pain as the shield was broken in two and the ax left a nasty gash in her forearm that left the arm broken. Had it not been for the shield absorbing most of the impact, her aura and her own armor slowing the ax even more, there was a chance for Pyrrha's arm to come clean off thanks to the speed of the ax practically bypassing her own aura.

While in agonizing pain, Pyrrha stumbled away from Hector allowing him to move freely again. Pyrrha first put Miló away before cradling her injured arm. Hector had an extremely sincere look on his face as he tried to apologize for hurting Pyrrha but the words to express how saddened he was couldn't come out.

Hector tried to move towards his sister to offer assistance but he saw what looked like pained anger in her eyes as she just raised her good arm at him and he suddenly remembered something. _Shit I forgot to take the damned glove off._ That thought raced through his head as Pyrrha manipulated the magnetics of his glove into having him be stuck to the wall which prevented him from helping or stopping her.

In an adrenaline fueled move, Pyrrha picked up the two broken parts of her shield and raced out of the room. She looked out of a window only to realize that had she been in the actual meeting chamber, she would be several dozen stories above the street but since she wasn't, it was only about a two story drop. Pyrrha made sure that there weren't any guards around before breaking the window with a strong kick and jumping into a trash bin below.

After climbing out and trying not to black out from the pain that Hector's ax caused, Pyrrha moved towards the fence around the capital building and was thankful for the metal fence. Pyrrha bent the metal into forming a hole large enough for her to slip through and ran as far away from the building as her legs could take her.

Pyrrha eventually found herself in a neighborhood of sorts and debated on how drastic the situation actually was before doing something that really went against her moral code. She jumped over someone's fence and was thankful that they still hung clothes out on the line to dry.

Pyrrha didn't want to steal from these people but Hector was probably already sending people out to find her and she needed a disguise that would also hid her injury. _I hope this doesn't get you guys into trouble._

With her new outfit and a makeshift sling made of ripped fabric, Pyrrha stuck to the backroads as she weighed her options. _Hector probably has the airport closed to catch me if not to ensure no civilian aircraft get shot down by accident. The harbor isn't going to be an option since it has also been closed for probably the same reason despite international laws prohibiting the interference of civilian commerce during times of war._ Pyrrha hid behind a dumpster as she continued to ponder her options and a Mistral Police car drove by.

"Well I hope the trains are still running and I have never been a hitchhiker before," Pyrrha told herself as she remembered Weiss saying something about how the Schnee Dust Company trains usually make trips to Vale from Mistral every few days. "The trains usually take thirty six hours to travel from Mistral to Vale so let's hope the Schnee Dust Company trains are faster." Pyrrha told herself as she moved towards the train yard for her grand escape from the newly reborn Mistral Britannia.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

Ozpin slammed his fist at the four messages that suddenly appeared on his scroll. The first of the messages was a general announcement that Mistral has officially surrendered to Britannia and has resumed its previous role as Mistral Britannia.

 _Surely Clovis and the others aren't going to attempt to repeat the cycle again?_ Ozpin thought as he remember the normal cycle of Britannian imperialism. After a random set of years, Britannia will invade a nation and then combine the two kingdoms' resources to build an army that would enable the empire to conquer the world. This often comes when the empire starts to see the maidens as threats again but the global dominance is usually only for a few decades. The empire relies on conflict to prevent stagnation within itself so when their society begins to become stagnant, they will change the records, rewrite memories, and alter history to make the governorships look like the original founders before starting to prepare to repeat the process again.

Ozpin remembered the last time that Britannia attempted to begin the cycle again only for their calculations to go wrong and Atlas not only pushing the Britannians back but also taking the second territory from them. This angered the royals greatly since something like that hasn't happened in well over a dozen generations. Ozpin had hoped that the failure would be enough to deter the Britannians from restarting the process but he predicted wrong. _It could just be an invasion instead of the beginning of the next cycle,_ Ozpin contemplated as he started to think about the second message he received.

Qrow informed Ozpin that their lead on where Labrys was deployed as well as their lead on Cinder were both wrong.

In the past three months since the end of the Vytal Festival, Ozpin had been using unused favors and various spies to track down what he thought were two of the greater threats currently running around Remnant. Ozpin was having Qrow hunt for Cinder due to her still having half of the Fall maiden's power as well as the creeping suspicion that Cinder was one of Salem's pawns.

Labrys was being hunted after Ozpin reviewed footage of her deceiving Ruby into thinking she was Mercury as well as well as Ruby and Yang's account of the android's fighting capabilities. _With what that machine could do, I wouldn't be surprised if Schneizel used her as a one woman army,_ Ozpin thought to himself as he thought at the last lead they had on the girl. Labrys was supposed to be protecting one of Schneizel's subordinates named Julius during the invasion but Qrow hadn't caught a glimpse of the girl during his time of spying on the tactician. _We need to find and eliminate her before she endangers one of the students or do something worse._

The third message didn't worry Ozpin as bad as the other three but the implications of what was in it was enough to have Ozpin worry for the safety of others. Ironwood relayed some intelligence concerning the HMNS Ladon being deployed in the Northern Mistral Sea within striking distance of Atlesian territory. _Just keep all of the top brass calm and don't let them do anything hasty yet._ What made Ozpin nervous was that if Atlas acted too hastily, Britannia might use an attack on the Ladon as an excuse to destroy whatever trust that the other kingdoms might have with Atlas that wasn't already tarnished at the end of the Vytal Festival.

The final message that the headmaster received was enough for him to get Glynda and the duo rush to the train station in preparation of what was coming.

The Schnee Dust Company Logistical Security Division alerted Ozpin to the fact that a stowaway that was discovered by one of the Atlesian Knights was Pyrrha Nikos who "Needs emergency medical assistance immediately to prevent more blood loss and potential infection of the wound." Ozpin was with Glynda to make sure that Pyrrha was given proper medical attention upon her arrival as well as keep her safe in case whoever attacked her tracked her movements enough to send an assassin to finish the job.

Ozpin was correct that someone sent another person to Vale to finish a job but he got the target, location, and operative all wrong. Watching from a window in one of the halls, a disguised Labrys watched as her two main threats left before going to complete her job.

Labrys has been hiding within the Beacon Academy student body for several weeks waiting for a night like tonight. While the world's eyes were focused on the Britannian invasion of Mistral and the leadership of Beacon was leaving to take care of something, nobody would notice another bullhead leaving and never coming back until it was too late.

Unlike her shadow who would felt no moral qualms about killing people. The real Labrys was a little more pacifistic in that she wanted to take the more peaceful route than the bloody route. Sure Shadow Labrys would have completed the Prime Minister's plan on the first night but it would have been a very bloody mess that neither Schneizel nor Normal Labrys wanted to have anything to do with. As a result Labrys was hidden among the students until she got a chance like that day.

Making sure that she wasn't being tailed, Labrys made her way to the library where an entrance to the Beacon Academy basement was located. Labrys wasn't aware of the silent alarm she set off when the elevator doors opened and she rushed to where Amber laid in slumber.

In a single smooth motion, Labrys sliced apart the locking mechanism that detained Amber and draped her over her shoulder after opening her container. It was then that Labrys' plan started to fall apart.

"Put the girl down as well as the large ax," two guard ordered as they trained their assault rifles at the kidnapper.

"Initiate backdoor protocol: Minoan Matador," Schneizel told the android through her built in radio and was suddenly overcame with dread. 'Phantom Matador' was the code to force Shadow Labrys into control of Labrys' body while staying obedient to the prince.

Shadow Labrys had an unnerving smirk on her face as she obeyed and dropped the two objects. The smirk grew even larger when the two oblivious guards moved closer to arrest Labrys. "I am a very talented surgeon where I am from, want to see" Shadow Labrys asked the guards who were confused by the girl's statement.

"This operation is on the house," Shadow Labrys joked as she sent a fist right into the right guard's chest. The guard died instantly as the mechanical maiden's hand broke through his chest and captured his heart. The punch kept going and a huge cavity appeared in his back before Shadow Labrys' second fist caused his head to practically explode as it shot through his cranium.

"The first part where you take the organs out is easy but I have never mastered the art of putting new ones in before they die. Well that was me as a surgeon, do you want to see how good of a chiropractor my best friend can be?" Shadow Labrys told the survivor as her fists returned and she stomped on the heart that she retrieved in 'the surgery.'

The second guard was still shocked by his companion's near lightning speed death before he got enough wits back to shoot at Shadow Labrys with his rifle. The gun did nothing since Asterius blocked the shots with his arm.

"Could you give my new friend a back massage Asterius? He seems a bit tense and could use one of your special ones." Shadow Labrys sarcastically joked as the bull monster sent a large punch straight for the guard's gut. The guard tried to use his rifle as a shield against the punch but was still thrown against the wall with a sickening crunch as his back was shattered in the impact.

Two more guards came from the elevator but they never got to attack the Minotaur shaped monster or it's mechanical master. Asterius bent forward as if to charge like a bull but unleashed a colossal blast of fire instead. The first of the new duo managed to use a shield to barely save himself while his partner wasn't as lucky.

The survivor watched as his fellow guard's aura was shattered before his own skin was melted. By the time that Asterius finished incinerating the guard, all that was left was a charred corpse, if it could even be described that way. The shield wielding guard then charged forward only to be caught in the grip of both of Asterius' hands.

"Quit playing with your toys, we have to get out of here soon." Shadow Labrys ordered as she used the technology in her to make the thrusters on her ax activate and return to her hand. Asterius gave his equivalent of a nod before crushing the guard in his grip. Once he was certain that the guard was dead, Asterius ripped the guard in two and flung the two halves in different directions.

Shadow Labrys motioned for Asterius to carry Amber for her while the former walked towards the elevator. Once the beast and master reached the exit of the basement, Asterius lowered Amber on Shadow Labrys' command so that she could carry the unconscious Fall maiden the rest of the way to the ship.

"Backdoor Reset Code: Labyrinthine Princess," Schneizel said through the communicator in Shadow Labrys so that she would revert back to normal as the elevator doors shut. " NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Shadow Labrys screamed as her other personality resumed control of their body for their escape.

When the program was created to force an Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon to switch from Shadow to regular form and vice versa, a specific code had to be developed. The code that would allow them the Shadows to be controlled consisted of two words. The first word was some gibberish that the researchers came up with but actually wrote down the spelling and pronunciation of. The second word was something they thought paralleled the form's description for that machine. The same for these two words were true for the process of reverting back to their normal selves.

The researchers chose 'Minoan Matador' for Shadow Labrys since Matador was a famous fictional term for a killer in a popular novel. 'Labyrinthine Princess' came from a corruption of Labrys' name and that she does try to be more caring to others while staying intelligent and serious, much like how fictional princesses are portrayed.

The phrase that would switch Aigis into her shadow mode was 'Delian Destroyer' with the phrase to return her to normal being 'Attican Archangel.' Lelouch and Schneizel are the only ones still alive that know these two phrases and even though they are at each other's throats, they both agree to the compromise that they won't use the other's phrase against the person they are loyal to. This means that Schneizel agreed to never activate Shadow Aigis with Lelouch doing the same with Shadow Labrys.

While in the elevator, Labrys was spared the sight of what her other self and Asterius did in the basement but it was still up to her to successfully smuggle the Fall maiden out of the kingdom of Vale without making too much of a scene. Had Schneizel left the task to Shadow Labrys, well you might need to buy a couple of more mops to deal with that bloody mess.

It only took a few minutes for Labrys to stealthy escape to the bullhead but only one person noticed the mysterious departure only to ignore it immediately afterwards for a more important purpose. "Alright who is ready to have some fun?" Yang asked as team RWBY and three fourths of Team JNPR boarded another bullhead to go to the city of Vale.

With Labrys' escape being a success, Britannia managed to steal the Fall maiden right from under everyone's nose with minimum resistance. "I really do feel sorry for what they are going to do to you when we reach your destination," Labrys somberly told the unconscious girl in the bullhead with her. _It makes me feel even sadder than the fate of that one Schnee back when they were finishing my construction._

* * *

 **Junior's Club, City of Vale**

Ever since the end of the Vytal Festival three months prior, Yang had been organizing monthly adventures into the city for her team and Team JNPR. Usually they would go to a movie or some kind of event but Yang was really in the mood for a strawberry sunrise with no ice tonight.

"Are you sure it's okay to take Ruby to this part of town?" Weiss asked as they entered the part of the city notorious for its nightlife culture. _Should I even be in this part of town?_

"Don't worry Weissy, Ruby has been where we are going to before though she has never been inside of it." Yang assured her teammate after wrapping her arm around the heiress' neck. "Besides I know the guy who runs the place and he won't let anything happen to any of us, I promise."

Nora started to dance as she walked down to the street since the music from Junior's club was loud. Ren however kept stoically walking next to a somewhat saddened Jaune who was disappointed that Pyrrha was away in Mistral instead of with them. "I really wish Pyrrha was here with us, didn't you say that she liked the kind of music coming from the club?" Jaune asked Ren who only nodded as Nora continued her dancing in the street.

"Who knows Jaune, maybe you could yourself a new friend here tonight." Nora said as she tried to get Jaune and Ren to dance with her but didn't have any luck doing so.

"Yeah my 'friend' has two girls who serve as part of the security of the club, maybe you could get one of their numbers?" Yang suggested with a weak and playful punch to the back of Jaune's left shoulder. "Besides Pyrrha said she would be back in a few days and she would want you to have fun so relax."

Jaune eventually decided that maybe having a little fun might not hurt and who knows, maybe Weiss will finally agree to go dancing with him. Jaune's confidence plummeted as he saw the bouncers on the outside of the club looked like two black suited mobsters.

"Yang are you sure this is the right place we are supposed to be at?" Blake said eyeing the two bouncers while Ruby just looked at the building in front of her.

"Hey isn't this that one club you blew up sometime last year? If so then they did a great job at fixing this place." Ruby said to her elder sister only for Yang to ignore Blake and Ruby. "Trust me on this. Me and these guys get along great." Yang said as she casually walked up to the two bouncers.

"Sup guys, you won't mind if me and a few of my friends come in for some fun do you?" Yang asked the two henchmen who quickly looked at each other before one of them raced inside to warn Junior.

"What the hell do you mean Blondie is outside? The longer we keep her waiting outside, the more likely she is to get angry and blow this place up again. Let her in and just keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone like the first time she was here." Junior ordered the henchmen as the twins, Melanie and Miltiades 'Miltia' Malachite, walked up to the bar Junior was tending to.

"So Goldilocks decided to pay the club another visit?" Melanie asked while leaning on the bar counter. Miltia on the other hand simply took a seat and watched the entrance. _My back still hurts where I had to get glass removed thanks to that brawler's punch,_ Miltia thought as a phantom pain coursed through her back.

"I am kind of sad that you started the party without me Junior." Yang shouted as she guided the one and three fourth teams into Junior's club while the music temporarily stopped.

"You cost me a lot of money that one time you came in here and you better not be causing any trouble this time around." Junior warned from the bar as the twins started to size up Yang's six companions.

"I would say that the blonde boy looks to be your type but he is friends with Blondie so he might be as bad as her." Melanie told her red dressed sister who only gave her sister an annoyed look. "Hey don't give me that look, I can tell when you try to hide your blushing Miltia."

As soon as Nora saw the dancefloor, she immediately bolted for it while dragging Ren with her. Ruby ran in the opposite direction of the dancefloor where an old arcade machine stood unused. Blake was caught unaware as Ruby dragged her against her will to fight against her at the arcade machine. Weiss got distracted by a karaoke machine leaving Jaune as the only one to go to the bar with Yang.

"I will take a strawberry sunrise with no ice as well and what do you want Jaune?" Yang asked her fellow blond who noticed the twins watching him intensely.

 _Alright Jaune you have a really attractive pair of twins watching you so don't mess this up._ Jaune thought to himself as he tried to remember that one drink order from that one movie he used to watch with his dad.

"I will have one dry martini, one in a deep champagne goblet. Wait I am not done yet." Jaune told Junior while trying to recall the second part of the order. "It must also have three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, and umm… half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it and don't forget to replace all the alcohol with water ok?"

"Kid I am impressed you can recall that old drink order but even if you had not ordered it to be replaced with water I still would have since you are underage." Junior replied as he fixed the two drinks.

 _Wow he actually recited the order to perfection minus the hesitation and making it nonalcoholic,_ Miltia thought as a slight smile crept up on her face. Miltia was content with watching and studying Jaune from afar and wasn't prepared for her sister's sudden decision to take her hand and move them closer to the two blondes.

"If they start any trouble you take on the red dressed one," Yang whispered to Jaune as the twins moved sat next to the leader of team JNPR.

"So what's your name blondie number two?" Melanie asked Jaune after positioning herself to where Miltia was sitting on one side of her and Jaune was on the other. "Yang I think they were asking you a question" Jaune told the Y of team RWBY while the twins, and even Yang all facepalmed in response to Jaune's obliviousness. Junior would have joined in but he was too busy making the strawberry sunrise to do the action.

"Here I thought some of the henchmen around here were airheaded idiots," Melanie complained only to get punched in the arm by her sister. "Be nicer to the guest Mel, it's impressive he remembered the order from a nearly forgotten movie so you have to give his intelligence some credit." Miltia scolded her white dressed twin.

"Whatever, I think a fight is about to break out between that orange hair chick Goldilocks brought with her and another guest so I am going to make sure another incident like that one night doesn't happen again." Melanie complained as she left her twin and the two blondes at the bar to go to the dance floor. Miltia knew that this was a coded message from her sister that equated to 'fine I won't help you flirt this time and you can do it yourself while I watch from a distance.'

"I am sorry about my sister, Melanie can be a bit arrogant at times." Miltia politely apologized while Ruby dragged Yang away from the bar before she could get her beloved strawberry sunrise with no ice. "My name is Miltia by the way, Miltia Malachite."

"Such a beautiful name for an equally beautiful girl. The name is Arc, Jaune Arc." Jaune tried to say suavely but ended up making the iconic reference sound dorky. Miltia internally rolled her eyes and laughed at how such an iconic line can sound so stupid and funny coming from this guy that Miltia decided was most definitely a dork.

While Jaune tried use a few pickup lines and jokes, only to have what looked like little success from what he could tell, Junior finally finished Yang's drink yet she was nowhere to be seen by him. "Here you go Miltia, if Blondie asks where her drink went I will just some drunk stole it while thinking it was theirs." Junior told the girl while sliding the strawberry sunrise to her.

"You know, I might not like Goldilocks but she has a pretty good taste in drinks," Miltia noted after taking a sip from the nonalcoholic drink. Junior may be in charge of all these henchmen and run a few illegal operations but even he won't serve alcohol to minors. "Here have a sip, I swear I didn't backwash into it," Miltia offered while moving to the seat next to Jaune and handing him Yang's drink.

"You are right it is pretty good," Jaune agreed before he and Miltia both noticed Yang glaring at them. 'I WILL murder both of you,' was what Yang mouthed to the two teens after witnessing her favorite drink getting stolen from her by the two. It was then that Junior started to make two more strawberry sunrises as he saw the furious expression on Yang's face.

Blake was happy to be able to break free from competing against Ruby at the arcade machine thanks to Yang but it was when she looked over at Jaune and Miltia that she came across a realization. _Is it me or does Jaune have a thing for girls that like the color red? There are some people that ship him with Ruby who wears nearly all red besides a little black here or there. There is Pyrrha who is also a redhead and wears some red along with her armor. Then we have this new girl who looks like she is wearing a red dress with a newspaper design, obviously Adel Fashion design. Is Jaune a red motif girl magnet that is oblivious to his own power?_

Blake was honestly confused by this and tried to sort this out while not thinking of a way to turn it into some kind of trashy smut story to be uploaded to the scrollnet under some sort of pseudonym. _You are stronger than that Blake, you don't need to be thinking about how someone like Jaune would fit into Ninjas of Love…. Damn it I already started to do it._ Blake strangled herself mentally for having such lewd thoughts while trying to get those thoughts out of her head.

It was at that moment that Ren joined the Cat Faunus and half-sisters by the arcade machine. "Is that a DPB machine over there," Ren asked the Faunus who looked over at a machine to distract her from those thoughts and saw that indeed there was a Dance Partner Battle machine over by the corner of the club.

Ren waved Jaune over to where the machine was after Blake confirmed the R of Team JNPR's suspicion. Jaune didn't realize it at first when he laughed and took Miltia's hand to guide them over to the machine. _Let's see what moves lover boy has,_ Melanie thought as she laughed at her sister's reaction of being dragged away to the old dance machine.

Yang made sure to get both drinks that were prepared for her before joining the four other teens at the machine. "Next time you give my drink away, I will make sure to finish the job of crushing your little 'twins.'" Yang warned the club owner before making a quick glance at the man's groin and walking away with the two drinks in each hand.

When she finally reached the four teens, she was surprised to see Miltia laughing at how badly Jaune was being beaten by Ren. Sure Jaune was no slouch at the machine thanks to his seven sisters always wanting to dance against him on theirs but Ren was several levels above him in skill.

Miltia stopped her laughing momentarily as Yang gave her a quick glare before returning her attention to her dancing friends. _So he may be bad at hitting on girls but he is pretty funny at times. It also doesn't hurt that he is really easy on the eyes and not a half bad dancer, I might give him a chance down the road but not right now,_ Miltia thought as she watched Jaune lose against Ren.

"So you aren't bad at that machine but let's see what your actual dance skills are like," Miltia told Jaune as she was about to take him to the dance floor before the scrolls belonging to Jaune, Ren, and Nora all started to go off. Jaune only read the alert for a second before a very grim expression came across his face. "Do you mind if I get a rain check on that? Professor Ozpin just sent an emergency alert about how our team member that wasn't able to come with us tonight was just found with a very severe injury." Jaune apologized before running out of the club followed by the other Beacon academy students who went to go check up on Pyrrha. Team RWBY was informed by Ren and Yang made sure to take her two drinks with her while they all left the club.

"I am used to hearing you reject guys left and right or just ignoring their request to go dance but it seems Karma was a bitch with you tonight. Maybe Goldilocks will bring you blonde friend back another day." Melanie told her twin who honestly looked a little sad as Jaune left to check up on Pyrrha Nikos, younger sister of the new Archduke of Mistral Britannia.

"At least Blondie didn't blow up the club again," Junior said as he cleaned the glass that had the first strawberry sunrise in it.

* * *

 **So there you have it guys, the newest chapter of the story. Hector committed treason against Mistral and was rewards with the title of Archduke and dominion over an entire kingdom for the Britannians. Yeah that guy that Kallen was chasing back in her 'trailer' was actually a disguised Hector and i hope you guys realized that when he started to spout out percentages in his first appearance as well as his weapon of choice matching that of Kallen's target. Pyrrha was hurt pretty badly by that ax's attack but she isn't out of the fights in the story in the future, it's more of a temporary handicap. Even though I said Minoan, Labyrinthine, Delian and Attican were made up in this story, they are all actually real words. Minoan refers to an ancient Greek civilization, Delian was the alliance led by Athens that turned into a hegemonic empire of sorts led by the famous city-state. Attican however refers to the region of Greece that Athens is located in that is called Attica. I almost ended it with Labrys' escape but I decided to add the scene at Junior's club for a little bit of humor and to test something out. The test was to see how I felt about my own skills at writing Jaune x Miltia though at the moment I will not confirm any ships other than Lelouch x Coco and a few sunk ones like Charles x Marianne, Schneizel x Cinder, and Sterling x Pishyakan. The only reason I even considered Jaune x Miltia was because of a few nice stories I have read of the pairing and maybe as an alternate option to Ruby if I kill off Pyrrha later in the story, we haven't reached the point where any of that can be confirmed so don't worry about it….. for now at least. Also even though she hasn't offically made an appearance in the story yet, Salem does exist in this story and I honestly can't wait to see what she will do in Volume 4. The title of the chapter comes from the fact that Hector's grand plan of restoring Mistral Britannia is complete, Schneizel's deception of Beacon to steal Amber is complete, and Britannia managed to rebuild the HMNS Ladon without any of the kingdoms realizing it. Speaking of the Ladon, just look up Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 Floating Fortress for a better idea of what the ship looks like. I named it after the famous Greek dragon that had one hundred heads and protected the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides.**

 **I will admit that I am taking a slight hiatus from this story for the moment being but it doesn't mean I am taking a complete break from writing stories. Right now I am considering a RWBY x Borderlands story in which Teams RWBY and JNPR travel to Pandora in pursuit of Roman after Hyperion discovers Remnant and Handsome Jack decides that Roman (and secretly Cinder) could make a useful ally in defeating the 'bandits' that are leading the resistance from Sanctuary. This will be told via flashbacks like the premise of Tales From the Borderlands with Ruby and Jaune explaining to a mysterious interrogator how their teams helped in the fight against Hyperion as well as what happened afterwards. The other idea that would take a bit longer to start up would be a Fire Emblem x RWBY crossover. What happened was that during the final battle against Salem, Salem activated an odd device that reset the entire timeline (to alter everyone's memories) as well as well as make the entire situation of the world like that in one of the fire emblem games. I have yet to decide if I want to use Fates or Awakening as the basis of the story. For the characters we might see things like Jaune as a mercenary eventually reclassed into a hero, Pyrrha as a Pegasus knight, Roman as a trickster/adventurer, Cinder as maybe a dark knight modified with bows or Qrow as a swordmaster. Other Fire Emblem characters will be making appearances though it depends on the game I base it on but semblances probably won't be making an appearance at all though I could be wrong. I will probably end up doing both eventually but now one of them will begin before the hiatus is over. I will promise that they won't share the fate of that last story that I tried to work alongside this one before deleting it due to never updating it. I assure you i'll finish all three of these if I decide to do both of these ideas alongside The Black Prince of Remnant.**

 **When we do return we will begin the destruction of Lelouch's base thanks to the effect of the Mat Alqamar weapon with at LEAST two character deaths occurring with nobody leaving the ruined base the same as they entered it. This will be followed by a chapter or two reintroducing Hector and Labrys into the story since they will be missing from the story until the "Rough Sea Clash." Following that event we will have the Battle of Pendragon between more people then you might realize right now with the forgone conclusion of the birth of Emperor Lelouch. The preview chapter will become part of the story's present a chapter or two after Lelouch's ascension. So until this hiatus and time skip that will be occurring before the rescue of Lelouch from his base is over, this is Bylackbre signing out and will be seeing you guys when I get back to this story.**


	16. The Beginning of the Storm

**Hey guys and gals it's me Bylackbre with a new chapter. I will admit that the break went on longer than I expected but you can blame that on labs, writing assignments for my professors, and the first two Dark Souls games. But anyway I am happy to present to you guys the newest chapter in the story as well as the somewhat new character(s) this chapter introduces. By somewhat new they could have already appeared but in the preview chapter or they are part of the RWBY canon but haven't made an appearance yet. I think you guys waited long enough without a chapter so let us get this started already.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY nor do I own Code Geass**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Kingdom of Vale**

Over the last ten and a half months since the Britannian invasion of Mistral, things have been oddly quiet within the empire and its newest territory. The students from Mistral had learned that despite the martial law the Britannians had established, all is fine with their families back home. Amongst the administrators of Beacon Academy however, things were starting to make them be worried within the renewed colony.

Rumors that huntsmen and entire families have been vanishing from their homes had Ozpin a little on the edge and worried him to the point of having Qrow spy on the new Archduke as well as Julius Kingsley who was somehow connected to all of the disappearances. Another oddity that Ozpin had picked up on was the fact that news from Haven had been slowing greatly since the invasion as well as how the Grimm were hiding away despite the emotions of the citizens of Mistral possibly being a major magnet of Grimm activity.

Ozpin was enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee when his scroll starting to ring to inform him of Qrow calling him. When Ozpin answered the call he noticed that the hushed tone Qrow was speaking in obviously meant he was deep in a place he wasn't meant to be in.

"That missing huntsmen and missing families' investigation is going much deeper into Britannian bullshit than we originally thought. Kingsley was using them as guinea pigs for the weapon the Boy is hunting down. It looked like it had eldritch markings on it and HER symbols were etched all over it as well as another ancient being's, possibly one of the fragments', signature. Kingsley is either being manipulated into some plan she made or he is aligning himself for whatever reason."

"Have you figured out what exactly the weapon does? Is there a way to destroy the weapon before the Britannians can use it?" Ozpin asked as he tried to figure out what connection Salem would have with a Britannian weapon of mass destruction.

"The weapon itself is just a storage container that is holding things that would make Ironwood shake in his metal boots. I managed to capture a picture of the blue prints and will send them to you once I am in a safe place but it's a two stage weapon. The first stage releases some kind of neurotoxin gas that either lowers a person's sense of self-preservation to nothing, makes them immediately commit suicide or alters the victim's perception of reality in a way that surpasses any modern drug. The blue prints make it look like some storage cells are opened to release some monsters of sort that transform the dead, or nearly dead, into some sort of monstrous killing machine by transforming the body of their victims."

Ozpin pictured the weapon being released in Vale and could immediately realize the rapid damage such a device could inflict in the kingdom when combined with a Grimm outbreak.

"I also managed to discover the true name of this project as well as the nickname some of the engineers and researchers gave it. Officially it's called Alfada' Almayit, while the engineers call it Pandora's Box and the psychologist call it the Dead Space."

"I need you to destroy that thing immediately as well as all the research done on it. There are too many lives at risk if that thing gets released or into the wrongs hands." Ozpin ordered as explosions and gunfire were suddenly heard from Qrow's side of the call.

"It looks like the Boy's men in gray have decided to crash the party early. I am going to see if I can't cause a little madness of my own while they have everyone's attention. If you don't hear back from me in three hours, send some students to the Boy's base to save his ass in case one of his men reveal his location." Qrow reported as he hung up leaving Ozpin to plan his next move as well as what the connection Salem has with Julius actually is as well as the amount of influence she might have over the western empire.

Ozpin was starting to become suspicious after an hour and Qrow had still not sent the blueprints. _Qrow may be a chronic drunk but even he still sends messages with important information like this. So what is keeping him from sending?_

* * *

On a different part of campus from the headmaster when he was talking to Qrow, Ruby was taking notes faster than Weiss normally does since this is one of Professor Port's special secret history of the huntsmen lessons.

"Now before I begin this lesson I must warn you about it first. What I am about to tell you is part of the truth about the origin of our world and if you tell anyone who isn't a hunter… you don't want to know what will happen to you and them." Port warned as he tipped his glasses down so he could look at each student directly in the eye.

Jaune sunk a little in his seat as Ruby leaned closer so that she could listen better.

Port quickly returned to normal and started the lecture concerning a few of the secrets of the hunters.

"As you all know, man was born from ashes and we managed to become what we are today because of Dust. Before there was Dust to help guide mankind, there was a darkness that sought to keep mankind from growing. It was from this darkness that the Grimm was born as well as a figure that wielded such power that even the Grimm cowered in fear of it."

"Mankind was strong when united as a whole while this child of darkness was powerful as an individual. Some scholars have theorized that the beast came about as a counter or balance to man rather than the Grimm being man's counterpart. But this balance was quickly destabilized." Port explained as Ruby were writing down exactly everything the professor was saying.

"So what you're saying is that this monster became more powerful than us?" Yang asked only for the professor to seemingly teleport right in front of the blonde.

"You are wrong Ms. Xaio Long, we became more powerful than the beast. Mankind's discovery of Dust was what tipped the scale and allowed us to push back the darkness and its servants. The monster took notice of this and forced the Grimm to try and wipe out humanity in retaliation. After a long drawn out war, a small group of heroes defeated the Grimm protecting the beast and eventually defeated the monster." Professor Port explained in a single breath while grooming his mustache.

"These heroes were praised for their skill and eventually became the first of the hunters though their weapons have either been lost through the ages or destroyed for various reasons. There are cynical rumors however that while the monster was killed, it wasn't completely destroyed. The beast's soul was shattered into different fragments that would individually try and eliminate humanity for revenge. The only support that this rumor has is the destruction of two ancient kingdoms, the haunting of an old tower that an entire kingdom was stored in as well as the disappearance of the kingdom of Págos long before anyone alive was born. Other supporters of this theory use the mysterious disappearance of the first Britannian Emperor and the fact he had to adopt rather than have children of his own as evidence, though this is obvious false since the use of genetic genealogy proved all the emperors are descendants or cousins of each other with all tracing back to the first emperor."

Port took a breath before continuing his lecture. "But these rumors have no solid evidence to support them and therefore are nothing more than stories to keep young huntsmen from getting curious and traveling alone to areas heavily infested with Grimm." Port concluded as the bell rang to signal the end of class.

Before a majority of the students rose from their seats, Ruby shot her hand up and asked the boastful professor a question. "Do you believe the rumors about the fragments?"

"Ms. Rose I know not if those monsters exist or not but a lesson my old mentor taught me was that if you can hit it, you can kill it. So even if they are real, a huntsman will be able to kill them if they try hard enough." Port said after thinking for a second and the class then quickly piled out of the room.

When they had all gathered outside the classroom, Nora was having to hold Jaune's shoulders in place since the young man wouldn't stop shaking in fear of the professor's story.

Pyrrha had fully recovered in the past few months and as such was able to do things like she used to but her physical therapist was still recommending that she keep the level of stress on that arm at a lower level than previously.

"Well that was an informative lesson." Ren noted as color started to return to Jaune's face.

"Afraid of old ghost stories are we Mr. Arc?" Professor Port laughed as he left his classroom and headed towards his office.

"I am fine," Jaune lied as he started to recover from the story.

"It's natural to be scared of stories like that, but if you really want to read something terrifying read some of the books Blake reads," Yang joked only for her partner to looked at her appalled before punching her in the shoulder.

"It's not my vault you left that yandere school story laying around in the open."

"Still you shouldn't be going through my books." Blake complained as Ruby suddenly dashed towards the cafeteria while dragging Yang with her.

"In case you were wondering, now is about the time they take the, according to Ruby, good cookies out of the oven and when they are their freshest." Weiss explained as the six students could hear Yang still yelling at her sister to stop dragging her with the younger girl's semblance.

"So how much longer do you have to go to physical therapy for your arm?" Weiss asked Pyrrha who rotated her shoulder and arm.

"The physician said I should keep coming for the next two weeks but I think I am back to peak condition. I am going to feel sorry went the therapy is over since the woman is such a nice lady." Pyrrha explained which relieved everyone gathered.

Since the incident involving her brother in Mistral, Pyrrha had not only been quieter than normal, but she was acting in ways that made her seem like a different person. She would back away from anyone who would try and touch her injured arm. Something that worried her and the professors was that her semblance seemed weaker since the injury took more out of her than they originally thought. But now she was almost back to normal.

Well almost in that she picked up a new habit of rubbing her arm where the ax's head nearly severed her arm as well as taking almost obsessive level of care of her equipment since the shield was repaired. Something that everyone picked up on very quickly was the fact that Pyrrha seemed to get depressed whenever someone would mention Mistral Britannia or the new leadership, mostly her brother.

"I have a paper I have to finish for Professor Oobleck so I am heading to the library, any of you want to come along?" Jaune asked which everyone agreed to come along for except for Ren and Nora.

"Nora heard about a pancake eating competition taking place today and since she did well on the last test we bet on, I have to go with her to it so we will see you later." Ren explained as the inseparable duo went to leave the school.

It wasn't long after the four students got to the library that they were joined by the two sisters of team RWBY.

"Yang as a cookie connoisseur, I have to inform you that the oatmeal raisin cookie is the worst in the world. Why anyone would ever make such a cookie is before reasoning." Ruby lectured as pompously as Weiss does when talking about the Schnee Dust Company.

"Since when were you a 'cookie connoisseur?" Yang asked as Ruby fumbled around her pockets until she found her wallet.

"I took an online course last year and here is my certification," the young team leader said as she handed a card that officially made Ruby a cookie connoisseur.

"Back to what I was saying about cookies, the most untrustworthy people in the world are those who actually enjoy the oatmeal raisin species. I would sooner be shot through the heel with an arrow than eat one of those." Ruby said as she and Yang sat down next to their other team members.

Weiss was checking the news on her scroll and an article caught her eye and she felt compelled to tell the others about it.

"Hey guys do you that Suzaku guy that fought in the Vytal Festival? Well apparently he was in a Knightmare Frame that got hit by debris when the Clarent was blown up and thought dead. The Area 11 Royal Hospital is reporting that besides the loss of his legs in the crash, he has made a full recovery from his injuries. The hospital built him a pair of legs to replace his lost ones and now he is to be knighted as one of the Knights of the Round."

"Well that's one way to get a leg up in their society." Yang joked as she continued to look at swimsuits on her scroll since summer was coming and she couldn't wait to hit the beach back home.

"Yang that isn't how you should react to new like that. This guy lost his legs in a situation that was completely out of his control, you should be more respectful since apparently he almost didn't make it out alive." Pyrrha spoke up and actually got on to Yang which was a rare thing. Pyrrha never told someone off for being rude.

"I remember Aigis saying that he is a good friend of Lelouch, I wonder how Aigis and Lelouch are doing." Nora thought aloud.

"Aigis was made the new Knight of Two after the last one was murdered and Lelouch is in hiding remember?" Ren asked as he continued to browse through a cook book for new ways to improve his pancake recipes for Nora.

"I am not trying to be rude but can you guys please be a little quieter? Some of us are trying to finish an essay over here." Jaune said as he tried to remember the sequence of events for the topic his paper would have been discussing.

The students all looked at each other and then decided that maybe some quiet would be nice. Then they all went back to whatever they were previously doing before Weiss' news interrupted them.

* * *

 **Hidden White Fang Base, Mistral Britannia**

Since Britannia reconquered Mistral, the hidden White Fang base personnel were becoming increasingly nervous.

It was common knowledge that one of the minor objectives the Britannians had was the hunting of the organization as well as those that they were aligned to but these quiet days had the White Fang unsure of when the Britannians were going to raid them.

It was shortly before Suzaku was being discharged from the hospital that the White Fang got an alert that a metal individual was assaulting the base and had already broken through the perimeter. Everyone immediately assumed it was Labrys sent to destroy them, they were unaware that Labrys wasn't the only metal servant of the royal family.

"The intruder will go no further," the White Fang lieutenant declared as he revved his chainsaw and got a group ready to face the threat. They managed to get ready right in time as their foe appeared before them shortly afterwards

A few of the more superstitious of the White Fang were starting to grow even more nervous as they got a good look at their attacker.

Standing before the defenders was a robust figure fully clad in midnight-black armor and a helmet with a thin slit showcasing the haunting glow of possibly mechanical eyes. Without waiting for the signal to fire, one lone White Fang grunt accidently shot the black armored knight and dropped his jaw when the bullet bounced off the knight's black armor.

The knight turned his attention from his previous target and charged towards the newly formed group of defenders.

 _Five targets identified. No heavy weapons detected. Eliminate all White Fang opposition to ensure survival._ That was what the heads up display with the knight's eyes and helmet displayed as he effortless dodged the bullets flying towards him. The grunts didn't even have time to reload when the first of the knight's strikes hit them.

The first of the grunts tried to pull out a melee weapon but instead got a roundhouse kick to the head and went down with a sickening thud. The second grunt got kneed in the chest before having the knight slam both of his fist into the poor Faunus' back, knocking him out of the fight. The third grunt had his sword out but was quickly disarmed and used as a shield when the last White Fang operative in the group accidently killed his partner by shooting at the knight. That final grunt was eliminated when the knight pulled out his large sword and impaled the Faunus through the gut.

The lieutenant quickly brought his chainsaw sword down on the knight but the armored man quickly rolled out of the way. The black knight then tried to fire a miniature slash harken at the White Fang officer but the later blocked the weapon before slicing the cable attached to it.

The knight then dashed forward and to the side so that he could try a spinkick on the terrorist but the man blocked it with his blade. While the lieutenant managed to stop the kick, the force from the strike was enough to knock him over. While on the ground, the terrorist barely had time to block the knight's blade that quickly came down on him.

 _Eliminate all obstacles to primary target. Primary target must not be allowed to escape._ These were the new orders coming in to the knight who gave a brief grunt before thrusting his greatsword at the terrorist who just regained his footing. The terrorist was shocked however when the target of the strike wasn't him but rather his sword that had the greatsword piercing through its center.

The knight smashed his foot into the lieutenant's chest which staggered the masked man and open to the knight's next move.

In a single fluid move, the knight dashed past the terrorist and left a large and nasty slash across the masked man's back. The black knight then swung his sword in the air once more to rid the blade of blood before continuing deeper into the base where his true target was waiting for him.

Adam had already cleared the building he was in and all the classified information was already moved out by the time the knight walked inside. The implants and armor may have increased the knight's reflexes but even he was too slow to prevent Adam's ambush when the former entered the room Adam was in.

As soon as he saw the knight's head, Adam shot his gun three times and all three hit their mark. The impact of the bullets were enough to not only stagger the knight, but it was also enough to crack the visor the knight saw through the helmet with.

With his opponent staggered, Adam rushed forward and tried to decapitate the intruder but the knight blocked the sword with a single punch. The force of the counterstrike was absorbed into the blade but his opponent's reaction was enough for Adam to jump back out of the knight's reach.

Since the cracked viewing slot in his helmet distorted his vision, the knight was seeing multiple Adams and was unable to discern where the real one was. After a few reckless sword swings that Adam absorbed the kinetic energy of, the knight jumped back and devised a new plan of attack. The knight shot all of his remaining slash harkens at the White Fang leader but the attack did nothing as Adam effortlessly sliced the weapons apart.

Adam took to the offensive by firing a few bullets that bounced off before testing the durability of his opponent's sword. Adam got a few cracks into the blade before having to roll out of the way of an overhead swing that would have sliced him in half.

The knight readied his sword to try and run through Adam with it but two alerts immediately caused him to start powering his personal blaze luminous system. _Energy transfer detected. Evasive maneuvers or escape is recommended._

No sooner had the shield been raised and the knight propped his cracked sword into place to help cover the front of his body that Adam decided to strike. Right from the beginning, the fight was never in the knight's favor as Adam's slash shattered the shield and sword while sending the knight crashing through a window and down to the ground several floors down.

The knight's original orders had been to not let anything stop him from killing Adam but these new orders that were just transmitted from Lelouch. The knight quickly plotted the route of the nearest safe house and limped away from the destroyed White Fang base.

Adam watched his foe escape and decided against chasing after him since it wasn't worth his time.

* * *

 **Area 11 Viceroy Palace, Area 11**

Suzaku wasn't usually someone who would let a migraine bother him but ever since he regained consciousness in the hospital last month he had been suffering from chronic migraines.

The current migraine that was ailing him was bad enough that he had to sit down in his former office and turn out the lights to recover. He heard very light knocking as his temporary secretary knocked on the door and let herself in.

"Are you alright Sir Kururugi?" Miss Jade Gem asked upon entering. Jade had just been hired less than two weeks ago and had been by the knight's side ever since because she also had the job of being his personal assistant. Suzaku was confused as to what happened to his last secretary over the last few months but nobody knew what happened so they replaced her with Jade.

"I know the surgeons said that your medicine should help with the side effects of your surgery but I really think you should try this homemade remedy. It's been passed down my family for generations and has helped us anytime our heads have hurt." Jade said this while offering a cup of what looked like hot tea.

 _Last time I took homemade food from someone, Cecile's cooking made me sick for a week. Or at least that what I remember,_ Suzaku thought for a moment before taking the cup and drinking from it. _Jade hasn't shown any reason for me to not trust her._

"This is pretty good actually. Thank you Ms. Jade, this taste much better than the medicine they prescribed me."

"Well I am glad you like it and just let me know if you need anything or another migraine comes along," Jade said as she started to exit the room that will soon cease to be Suzaku's office in a few weeks. _They may think they took my annoying best friend from me, but I think I found a way to get him back._

* * *

 **Lelouch's Underground Fortress, Mistral Britannia**

Lelouch was going over the after action report of the Black Knight's failure as well as his soldiers' theft of Julius' weapon when The Surgeon walked up to the prince.

"Your majesty there is something urgent about your enemy that I think you should hear." The Surgeon said as he motioned for Lelouch to follow him to a safe place where they won't be overhead.

"What is it that you need to tell me?" Lelouch said suspicious of the man before him.

Usually the Surgeon was one of the more evasive of the three experts Lelouch had working for him. The Psychologist was cryptic when talking about herself when she wasn't trying to redirect the questions away from her. The Engineer was often too absorbed in his work or would claim that his past is too boring to be of anyone's interest. The Surgeon had a habit of avoiding nearly all the questions related to himself and kept the most secrets of the trio.

"As you should very well know, the biggest sin I am currently atoning for is assisting in helping Julius becoming the entity he is today by originally making him look partially like you. The more I think about the events leading up to the surgery, the less I actually remember." The Surgeon explained with very worried expression.

"I looked into all the records concerning that surgery and while all the official documents were made to look like I filled them out, someone obviously forged by handwriting. My secret records didn't have that surgery listed as one I did." Before The Surgeon could finish explaining his worries, Lelouch already figured out the point he was getting at.

"I suspect that someone altered my memories to create an alibi for Julius' transformation into your body double. Alternatively this could mean that the surgery to attempt to replicate your appearance never occurred and Julius either always looked like you…."

"Or he somehow transformed into a form similar in appearance to me." Lelouch interrupted while finishing The Surgeon's sentence.

"If it's the former, then you might have a secret twin Marianne and Charles forgot to inform you about. If that isn't the case, Julius is a far bigger threat than your elder brother whose memories might be affected like mine were." The Surgeon said as Lelouch was already altering his plans for Julius despite the theory that might not even be true. Lelouch looked into the man's masked eyes and could see the fear and worry within them that reassured him that The Surgeon wasn't lying or misleading.

"Schneizel thinks he is manipulating Clovis and has the obedience of Julius but in reality Julius is controlling Schneizel who manipulates Clovis." Lelouch said aloud with The Surgeon nodding in agreement.

"Some of The Engineer's former associates have confirmed that preparations are being made to mass produce the weapon we stole earlier. I don't know what Julius is or whatever it is he has planned, but we must stop him before we are out of time." The Surgeon warned as one of the officers under Lelouch's command came rushing from the command center.

"Sir there has been an incident in the hangar the weapon is stored in. The technicians in the command center are requesting your presence to get your orders as well as keep you safe if the weapon is activated."

"I have something I have to get from the laboratory but I will head to the command center for safety afterwards." The Surgeon told Lelouch before alarms started going off and the prince, The Surgeon, and the officer quickly rushed to the command center where they would be safe presumably.

"Contact Headmaster Ozpin and have him dispatch any students available besides Team CVFY to assist in rescuing the survivors." Lelouch ordered upon walking into the command center.

"Close all the blast doors between Hanger Two and the rest of the compound. Whatever that weapon released cannot be allowed to spread any farther than it already has. Put the command center under lock down as well as turning on the automated sealing system in the halls if something unregistered is detects." Lelouch's fifth in command ordered as the carnage in the hangar unfolded following Julius' remote activation of his superweapon.

"What the hell is that thing?" The Engineer asked as he pointed at a monitor showing the transformation of one of the soldiers who committed suicide when the neurotoxin hit him.

"It looks like his body is undergoing a forced mutation of the body." The Surgeon noted while everyone looked in horror as two large appendages shot out of the former soldier's shoulders and the monster dashed towards the blast doors.

Several personnel in the command center started to panic when the formerly dead failed to slash through the door but easily found a ventilation shaft to escape the hangar from.

"It was a trap all along. Julius never meant to place the weapon in a rocket and launch it at us. He wanted us to steal the weapon and then spring it on us when we least expected it." Lelouch realized as reports of the monsters attacking appeared all over the base and were spreading like a wildfire.

"It seems containment has failed sir. I would suggest the FLEIJA self-destruct option but with those things traveling through the vents as well as the neurotoxin spreading slowly through the base, we can't reach the three panels safely." Lelouch's second in command behind Sayoko and Unit 024 reported as he pressed a few buttons that would prepare the automated machine guns in case the monstrous soldiers tried to attack the command center..

To prevent the FLEIJA from accidently destroying the base, the original architects of the defense measure placed three control panels that must be activated at the same time to start the twenty minute timer to evacuate. The first panel was in the command center, the second was in the AGSW production facility, and the final panel was within the sakuradite reactor control room.

The reactor was close to the laboratory used by the three experts and thus was probably the safest of the panels outside the control center to reach. The AGSW production facility panel would be a nightmare to reach in this scenario.

The AGSW production facility was in one of the deepest parts of the base and therefore was impossible to escape from in time. The reason the original architects placed the production facility that far down was so that if one of the Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons went rouge, they had plenty of time to stop it from escaping by keeping the exit far away from its starting point.

"I pray that the headmaster is fast in sending some help." Sayoko said before the automated turrets outside the command center came alive and started at shoot at the monsters that were trying to charge towards the command center.

Lelouch looked at the camera footage from across the facility and quickly noted a pattern in the movements of his transformed soldiers.

"Close the hangar doors in Hangar One. Those things are rushing towards it and we can't let a single one escape from this place!" Lelouch shouted as his men quickly closed the doors that both man and beast were racing to escape through.

Everyone in the room watched the massacre in Hangar One and the distress signals from soldiers under siege started to quickly drop in numbers.

"It seems we are officially stuck in the mountain of madness thanks to Julius." The Psychologist noted while closing the latest of the books she was reading through.

Everyone watched as the halls were empty except for the transformed deceased as well as the corpses they left behind.

It took fifteen minutes for one of the command center personnel took off her headset and walked towards Lelouch.

"Current status of the facility is forty-seven percent of our people have been killed or transformed. Another twenty is missing or unresponsive while the rest are hiding or fighting back." The soldier reported solemnly.

Lelouch processed what the woman told him and realized that in little under an hour, Julius had killed between four hundred to seven hundred trained soldiers with a single trap that Lelouch shouldn't have fallen for.

"Lelouch I pray the huntsmen arrive quickly or I am afraid that nobody will be surviving this hell for very long for rescuing." Unit 024 stated as the death count continued to grow in the fortress that was becoming dead silent within the halls.

"This was supposed to be one of the most secure facilities in remnant but now we are trapped in hell on remnant." The Engineer noted as the machine guns outside the command center went silent for the transformed soldiers abandoned their siege to get Lelouch and instead started to roam the halls in search of more things to kill or convert.

* * *

 **Outside Lelouch's Base, Mistral Britannia**

Unlike the train system that makes the trip from Mistral Britannia to Vale in over a day, travel by bullhead was much faster. Team RWBY had been flying to the base for little over an hour when they were notified to get ready for arrival.

"Coco's going to be so jealous we get to see Lelouch's super cool hidden mountain fortress before her." Ruby said as she looked out the window and saw the snow covered mountains of Mistral Britannia zoom by below. The pilot of the aircraft was actually straining the engines to get to the base as fast as possible.

"It sounded like Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch were nervous when they were giving us this mission. If I had to guess, this is going to be a dangerous mission. I am just surprised that they didn't send a teacher to go along with us." Blake told the others while still unaware of the danger awaiting them.

"Hey we are second years that won't let anything stop us. We will be perfectly fine Blake."

"I don't know Yang, I just feel like something is wrong about all of this."

"I agree with Blake in that something definitely feels off as if Ozpin didn't know the whole situation when he gave us the mission or he withheld some information from us." Weiss said as the bullhead started to land and she thought she saw five figures walking in the snow but immediately dismissed it as nothing.

"Alright here is your stop. I sent a transmission out that notified whoever was listening that we arrived and to let you girls in. I am going to find a safe place to land and hide the bullhead while the mission is ongoing. Contact me with some sort of signal so that I can know to pick you up." The pilot told the team as he lowered the transport enough for the girls to jump out safely.

"If it is just getting a few people out safely, it shouldn't take too long." Ruby said with a large smile on her face as she jumped out of the transport. Upon hitting the ground she looked at the hangar doors and was confused as to why they hadn't opened yet.

"Maybe they are preparing a welcoming party for us?" Yang suggested as Ruby ran the width of the door before finding a camera and started to wave at it.

"Hey your huntsmen in training that you requested are here to rescue you. Can you let us in please?" Ruby asked the camera and was happy to see the lens grow and shrink before turning to see the rest of the area outside the base.

It was at that moment that both Blake and Ruby's scroll started to ring. Ruby looked down to see it was a withheld number while Blake scroll was informing her of her father calling her.

"Blake Belladonna, as your father I am ordering you to turn around and do not enter that base no matter what!" Sir Sterling, the Knight of Five, ordered his daughter immediately as she answered.

"What are you talking about? Ozpin said there were some people inside that base that needs rescuing. I know that you wanted me to come back to your home with you after the Vytal Festival but I am a huntress and we protect others to help create a better world."

"Blake what you are about to walk into is a scenario that no hunter has ever encountered and very few could survive. Please abandon the mission and don't go into the base. I don't want you to get hurt by what's inside waiting for your team." Sterling warned his daughter who apologized before hanging up.

"Ruby I got this number when the camera scanned your scroll. I was expecting fully trained or at least higher level huntsmen than second year students." Lelouch said as Ruby started to hear gunfire on Lelouch's side of the call.

"I hear gunshots and I need you to open this door so we can get in and help you and as many other people to safety." Ruby said as she heard a large set of doors open but it wasn't the hangar doors.

"I understand and I would personally be part of your escort group if I could but nobody here is letting me. I have sent an escort team to open the door from within the hangar but be prepared for a battle as soon as you enter. One piece of advice is that some survivors that are scattered around the base have noted that aiming for the limbs rather than the chest works better." Lelouch concluded before hanging up the call.

A few minutes later the team started to hear fighting on the other side of the door as well as gears moving around inside that notified the girls that the door was opening. "Alright get ready because it sounds like whatever is threatening this place is going to greet us first behind these doors." Ruby said as she prepared Crescent Rose.

Sterling was furious as he watched his daughter and her team go into the base guns ablazing despite his warning not to.

"Get the missile launcher ready to blast a hole in that door for me to enter through. I want you four to kill anything that comes through that door that doesn't exit with me, the members of my daughter's team, or the prince. I don't care if it's your grandmother's ghost, I want it deader than disco as soon as it comes through that hole. If I don't make it back, there is a document hidden in my office containing a list of successors to the leadership of you guys. Find the first person you meet on the list and give them command when the moment is right." Sterling said as he adjusted his white overcoat and starting to get ready to enter the base.

"Sir are you sure it's a good idea for you to enter that base with the situation created by the weapon?" Sterling's second in command asked as Sterling loaded his two semiautomatic pistols.

Ever since the Battle of Vale where Sterling lost one of his hands, Sterling had modified his fighting style to better suit semiautomatic pistols rather than revolvers. The loading of these pistols was easier with his fake hand and while he had been training with them for a few months now, this was the true test of his skills with the guns.

"My daughter that I lost long ago is walking into that hellhole that could easily kill her and I will be damned if I stand around and do nothing to protect her." The Knight of five said as he holstered the pistols and starting running towards the hangar entrance.

The older knight was about three quarters there when the missile one of his men fired finally impacted the door and gave him a hole large enough to walk in the base through.

 _Nothing that Julius has unleashed on this base will stop me from keeping you safe Blake, even if it costs me my life to save your life and the prince's._

* * *

 **So this chapter may be slightly shorter than the previous ones but if I made it any longer, you guys would have had to wait for an even longer amount of time to get this chapter. But I am mostly back from the haitus and I hope to have more chapters out soon. So yeah Julius just unleashed the necromorphs on Lelouch's base and now we will see how team RWBY does against Dead Space's main antagonists. After this current arc, we have one more than the Battle of Pendragon where things get really chaotic before returning to the events of the preview chapter. So until next time, this is Bylackbre signing out.**


	17. Into the Mountain of Madness

**Hey guys I am back with the newest update to The Black Prince of Remnant. So I apologize for taking so long to publish this chapter but between starting a new job and getting a new PS4, I have fallen behind on my writing. But to make it up to you guys, I will slowly be working my way through the previous chapters and doing some major proofreading that caused me to facepalm myself while looking up how I portrayed a certain character. But I think you guys would much rather read about everyone's clash against Julius' necromorphs than about me talking about technical things concerning the story. So let's get this show on the road.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Code Geass, or Dead Space even though Necromorphs are now in the story for this arc**

* * *

 **Pishyakan's Skyscraper, Area 3**

Usually Minerva Pishyakan just kept track of the movements of those that used to be close to her without interfering. Mostly this was to have counters to potential blackmail by threatening the blackmailer but she does have other uses for the tracking. Sometimes she uses this network of people tracking to make sure certain 'idiots' don't get themselves hurt.

Pishyakan knew she wasn't an angel but that doesn't mean she won't help where she feels like she has no other options but to assist. The situation unfolding at Lelouch's base was an example where Pishyakan was all but forced to help her daughter for once in her life.

Even though the two haven't seen each other since some time after Blake's birth, Pishyakan accepted the fact that Blake was her daughter and successor by default. Since Blake is an asset that is too valuable to risk endangering, Pishyakan had the Faunus girl's movement tracked until she lost the tracking signal in Lelouch's base. The fact that Sir William was also in that life threatening situation made her even more nervous.

"The Count of the Tower of Embers is ready to take your call Ma'am," Pishyakan's personal assistant informed her before leaving her office. Minerva had many assets and 'friends' that she made through her smuggling trade and this 'Lord' as he preferred to be called was no different. He was a former nobody but the rediscovery of the tower as well as the deposits of dust and sakuradite underneath led to him being an extremely wealthy and powerful man. Of course the Marchioness' smuggling and arms distribution operations helped out though that didn't help the envy she had of him buying a tower larger than the one she inherited.

"Alright we don't have much time and I have some orders for you to follow understand?" Minerva asked one of Remnant's most powerful arms manufacturers.

"Why do you want me to lend you a hand with your little problem? Aren't you aware that I am busy enough as is with maintaining production and ruling those within my domain?" The Count replied through the scroll call.

"I have been tracking some people who are doing something extremely stupid and dangerous. You can get some of your bullheads there faster than I can get mine so I need a favor from you."

"So let me guess, the daughter you so lovingly abandoned and who became a huntress and the rest of team RWBY is going into the area a mutual client of ours have targeted with his prototype weapon?" The Count asked while Pishyakan packed a bag of clothes and grabbed her weapon.

"Here I thought you were going to stay cooped up in your tower and not pay attention to the Vytal Festival. But yeah that unwanted parasite went with her team to that Prince's clubhouse after the bastard that took Sterling's hand unleashed the weapon we both provided parts for." Pishyakan explained to the Count. The Marchioness smuggled some very hard to acquire resources to Kingsley while the Count provided the iron and steel that would form the exterior of the weapon.

"So either you help me get my daughter and that stupid bounty hunter who followed her there out safely, or our business agreement where I handle your arms distribution ends. It might not seem like a big threat but you shouldn't forget that I have many connections I can provide or take away."

"That isn't exactly something I can argue with since your assets are very valuable to me. What exactly do you need from me?" The Count asked as Pishyakan transferred the call to a redclaw device while making her way to an elevator to the ground floor of her skyscraper in Area 3.

"I need to use your high speed Bullhead as well as some backup for my trip there. I have no idea what Julius, or Rolo or whatever his name is, unleahsed on Lelouch's base but I would rather have some support instead of going in alone. So be ready because I will be there within the next few hours." Pishyakan said as she got into her personal car and drove to the airport where her private VTOL waited to depart.

* * *

 **Lelouch's Mountain Fortress, Mistral Britannia**

The welcoming party team RWBY was expecting wasn't what greeted them. The first thing they heard upon entering the hangar was the firing of assault rifles, the girls were unable to see what was being shot at nor where they able to see where the gunmen actually were.

The girls prepared their weapons right before they heard screaming and the guns stopped firing. Their nervousness only intensified as the hangar doors behind them started to shut leaving them with only the dim emergency lights to illuminate the room.

"Do you see anything Blake?" Ruby asked her team member who naturally had night vision and could see perfectly fine in the mostly dark room.

"I am hearing very faint steps but I am not seeing anything out of the ordinary."

Ruby then motioned for the older girls to follow her before the intercom system in the room started to make noise.

"Listen up Ruby, We aren't detecting any of those beast in the hangar right now but I am having The Engineer manipulate the lights to guide you here." Lelouch said as the lights suddenly went out before forming what looked like a trail leading to a doorway.

"I have already dispatched Unit 024 to meet up and escort you to the command center. As I said before you walked in, aim for the limbs was a message wrote multiple times around the base and should help you." Lelouch explained as the girls left the hangar and entered the maze of hallways that made up the base.

* * *

The door connecting the hangar and the hallways had already closed when the rocket fired by one of Sterling's men blasted a hole in the hangar doors.

"Alright I am in the base, kill anything that leaves through that hole and isn't on our side." The Knight of Five ordered his subordinates as he walked into the base.

Once he was inside, Sterling turned on a light connected to his belt to see and got his two pistols ready. The bounty hunting knight got ready just in time since the monsters returned to the room and almost caught him off guard. The knight realized they were there when one knocked over a barrel alerting him that they were coming from behind.

Sterling activated his semblance as three monsters with bladelike appendages extending from their shoulders charged at him. Sterling himself couldn't really describe how his semblance worked but the best he could come up with is that his perception of time nearly freezes around him letting him mentally line up shots and execute them much faster than any normal person could. The irony in the difference between his semblance and his daughter's wasn't lost on him. His semblance allowed him to almost always be accurate when he strikes while his daughter's makes it to where attacks miss her occasionally.

The monsters only stopped for a moment upon the destruction of their heads before continuing to rush the lone knight. Shocked that they can survive being shot in the head, Sterling took aim at the extra appendages hoping to at least take out their means of hurting him.

The first two went down but the surprise of their initial survival messed with Sterling's aim enough for him to miss the third one. Sterling rolled out of the way of the slashes while reloading his pistols. _I wouldn't have missed if I still used those revolvers,_ the knight thought as he took aim once the monster was turned around to face him.

"I hope this works," Sterling said as he took aim at some fuel canisters next to the monster and blew the barrels up which took the injured beast with it. Sterling saw the monster was still twitching on the ground and double tapped it to make it stop moving.

 _What the hell did you make Kingsley?_ Sterling asked in his head as he examined the remains of the monster that somehow survived being next to an explosion as well as being shot in the head and chest multiple times.

Sterling looked at the transformed corpse before dousing the bodies with a fuel canister and lighting the room with the corpses he set on fire. "Hoping you won't be coming back up from that," Sterling said before finding a doorway into a separate hallway than the one Team RWBY went through.

* * *

Meanwhile back with team RWBY, they were about to have a reunite with someone that rubbed them the wrong way in the past.

"N2 will be meeting up with you just on the other side of the door at the end of the hall." Lelouch said through the intercoms before the hall lost power and the emergency lights came on seconds later. Once the emergency lights came on, several monsters like the ones that tried to ambush Sterling appeared at either end of the hall the team was in.

Before the team could even ready their weapons, the lights in the room reset once again and the beasts disappeared.

"I wasn't the only who saw those things right?" Yang asked before the door their escort was behind starting to slowly open. As if they were waiting for this moment to happen, the monsters suddenly smashed through several vents and panels to attack in greater numbers than team RWBY originally thought there was.

"You can't be serious?!" Weiss exclaimed as she used some dust and created a wall of ice between the team and the monsters approaching them from the part of the hall they just came from. While she thought it was an effective barricade at first, the cracks that were showing up where the monsters were trying to smash through proved otherwise.

"We need to clear out these guys in front of us before the ones behind us join the party." Ruby said as she fired Crescent Rose into the crowd of reanimated corpses running towards them. Ruby would have preferred to use her weapon in its scythe form but the size of the hall prevented her from doing so. Ruby was also taking careful care to take out limbs and not hit her team members in the cramped hall.

Blake and Weiss were both slashing away while Yang was covering her little sister by punching away any monsters that got too close to Ruby in Yang's opinion. Yang eventually decided in the fight to rip off a panel on the wall and use it as a shield to block strikes while delivering shotgun blasts from her gauntlets.

Weiss sliced off the right bladed limb of one of the monsters causing it to stumble in confusion temporarily. The heiress then took advantage of the sharpness of the severed limb by using a glyph to shoot it at high speed through four of the beasts and making them stuck to the wall. The creature with only one bladed limb started to recover but the one people referred to as "ice princess" was ready for the incoming blow. Weiss swept away the sharp limb and jammed her rapier into the creature's chest and ran through two more reanimated corpses and using an ice glyph to keep them trapped against the wall.

Blake was holding her own against the undead beings by using her weapon to sever their limbs as well as using her own semblance to evade attacks. Her avoidance of their attacks actually caused a peculiar phenomenon that she noticed and took advantage of. The effect was that if one of the beings accidently hit one another when striking at Blake, they would end up attacking each other instead of the huntress.

Ruby noticed that as well but was distracted by what sounded like a motor speeding up when the door behind the monsters started to open up enough for someone to almost get through. Yang's makeshift shield had just been broken apart when Unit 024 shot through the opening slicing apart many of the remaining creatures on their side of the barrier.

"You're that girl that almost got me and Ruby killed when Lelouch escaped Vale during the Vytal Festival!" Yang yelled angrily after the last of the former soldiers were killed and the blonde huntress recognized their escort.

"The potential of you getting injured was factored in as a scenario we were willing to risk in our efforts to prevent the prince from falling into Julius and Schneizel's hands." Unit 024 calmly said despite Yang trying to choke her for almost hurting Ruby several months back.

"Can you please try to beat her up later when we don't have a wall of ice holding back a wave of those things cracking behind us?" Weiss asked as she and Blake motioned for the other three to follow them through the doorway Unit 024 just came through.

"The Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company has the right idea. It looks like the ice will only hold back what the soldiers of my sister's dear prince used to be." Unit 024 proclaimed calmly as she scanned Weiss' wall of ice and noticed it was only going to stay together for about twenty five more seconds before collapsing.

Everyone but Yang and Ruby managed to get through the doorway when the ice busted and a surge of the monsters raced towards the team of huntresses and the android. Acting on instinct and pure adrenaline, Yang grabbed Ruby and threw her through the air and doorway to safety. The elder sister wasn't nearly as lucky as she tried to run to safety but ended up getting impaled through her left shoulder and arm.

Ruby was screaming at the sight of her sister being injured but was slammed against the wall by Unit 024 as the android bolted back through the doorway to fend off the reanimated corpses while Blake and Weiss dragged the brawler to safety.

Once everyone was safely on the other side, Blake noticed a camera moving its angle of direction before the door they came through slammed shut fast enough to slice one of those "things" in half. Everyone but the unbreathing Unit 024 caught their breath before the android lifted the severely Yang onto her back.

"The Command Center isn't far away from here and you just need to follow me. You have the biggest gun out of us Ms. Rose and would you kindly cover our rear as we approach our safehouse?"

"Just get my sister to safety and keep her alive please?" Ruby pleaded as the older sister of Aigis nodded before breaking out into a sprint.

The Surgeon and a few medical personnel that survived the initial activation of the superweapon pulled Yang off of Unit 024 when five finally got through the large blast doors securing the command center. "We need to stabilize and clean the huntress' wounds before her condition worsens." The Surgeon instructed the medical personnel before turning to the rest of Team RWBY. "We have food and water available if you need some but you three need to rest while we take care of your sister. This area is the safest place you could be besides your home right now."

"I am glad to see that you four didn't get killed by those things like the rest of my men." Lelouch said before he and everyone else in the room was caught off guard by Blake's response to seeing the prince.

Blake used her semblance to get behind Lelouch and placed her scythe on his neck in such a way that she only needed to pull the trigger to decapitate him. "WHAT. WERE. THOSE. THINGS. THAT. NEARLY. KILLED. MY. PARTNER?"

Weiss and Ruby were shocked that Blake was threatening someone's life and was taken aback by how uncharacteristic of her this was. Weiss slowly walked towards the Faunus of the team while Ruby eyed the raised rifles that were all pointed at Blake and ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

"Blake please calm down and put your weapon down. We are all worried about Yang but the doctor lady said she will be fine so please stop threatening the life of the person we were sent to rescue." Weiss said trying to defuse the situation while missing the motion Lelouch made to Unit 024 who was moving towards them outside of Blake's view.

"He had those monsters in here and they almost killed Yang so that means he almost killed Yang just not back in the Vytal Festival but now as well. I don't want him to hurt any of you while we are still here. I just wish we could go home." Blake finally said before collapsing onto her knees which freed Lelouch from the threat of Gambol Shroud.

The Psychologist used the moment to get a tranquilizer dart and shot it at Blake who quickly fell asleep in Weiss' arms since the heiress managed to catch her before her head slammed into the floor.

"She should be awake within the next hour and I will explain everything when she wakes up." Lelouch explained as the ninja maid carried the snoring huntress to one of the cots in the command center. Everyone was caught off guard by the speed of which the tranquilizer went through Blake as the huntress woke about twenty five minutes later in a much calmer state than she was previously in.

"In all honesty I am not that surprised that she woke up this fast." Weiss said as she took a sip from a cup of tea offered to her from Sayoko a few minutes earlier. "I think her Faunus traits and the fact that cats don't have to sleep for long to be rested is also part of her."

"We have some tea available if you would like Ms. Belladonna," Sayoko offered while preparing a cup for the young huntress who had just joined her in the room as well as Weiss, Ruby, Lelouch, The Surgeon, The Psychologist, and The Engineer.

"I just need some coffee but I think you need to explain a few things to us Lelouch. First things first, is my teammate okay?" Blake asked since Yang was not in the room with them.

"I have your sister in a stable condition right now but I am going to need a few of my things from the lab to ensure she makes a full recovery from her injuries. I would go by myself but those things are making it too dangerous to go out alone." The Surgeon explained while The Engineer nodded in agreement with the medical expert.

"I have been working on a way to detect where those dead soldiers are moving but I am getting nowhere in that field so we are having to rely on the cameras to keep track of them. It seems they tend to move around alone when in a dormant state but travel in groups when actively hunting something moving through the facility. They become active as soon as they sense something in the halls that isn't one of them."

"This behavior is an oddity to me but I have following some of the groups and they seem to be following someone moving through the facility. Unless we can reach the labs before their prey gets there and causes some stragglers to stay behind, we won't be able to ensure the complete recovery of your sister." The Psychologist explained after The Engineer finished his report on his sensor's status.

"I need you three and some soldiers to escort me and The Engineer to the lab to not only retrieve a few things but activate the FLEIJA self-destruct mechanism in the reactor room." The Surgeon said as Ruby noticed that Unit 024 was nowhere to be seen.

"I had already approved of the plan so I sent Unit 024 to activate the device in the Anti Grimm Suppression Weapon Factory. She is fast and dangerous with her sword so really she is the only one who could make it there safely since it is so deep in the fortress." Lelouch explained as he used a holographic map of the mountain fortress to illuminate the path Unit 024 was taking.

"So this is the place Aigis, Labrys and Unit 024 was born?" Ruby asked since she knew the three were like Penny in that they looked mostly human but wasn't.

"Born wouldn't be the word I would use but the factory is where they originally came from." The Engineer clarified as flashbacks of the fifth generation came back to him. "Our job is to reach the panel in the FLEIJA reactor room that would prepare the fortress for the explosion that should take out those things that are hunting us throughout the base."

"The Laboratory with some of our research as well as some medical supplies for Yang is close to the reactor room and will make the entire endeavor about forty minutes long with minimum resistance." The Surgeon inputted as the holographic map projected the path the two scientist were hoping to be escorted on.

"Once you five and Unit 024 make it back safely, I will start the self-destruct sequence and we will have exactly twenty minutes to get out of the blast radius of the prototype FLEIJA explosion. Make sure you have your bullhead ready because the explosion is estimated to take the whole fortress and most of the mountain with it." Lelouch explained as the hologram then simulated the destruction of the base.

"So you want us to guide two people who usually wouldn't know how to fight through a heavily infested warzone of sorts past who knows how many of those monsters that nearly killed Yang in hope of preparing an explosion that could also potentially kill us if we are too slow and those things don't get us first?" Weiss asked pessimistically as she saw the whole plan as nothing more than a death wish waiting to be fulfilled.

"Sounds simple enough and I don't see how things could go wrong." Ruby said optimistically after jumping from her seat. Weiss facepalmed at her partner's idealistic nature but was ready to go when Ruby said to go.

"We leave in ten minutes after I prepare something to help us out." The Engineer said as he rose from his seat and left to some of room in the command center that he took over as a makeshift lab.

With the plan formulated and The Engineer already leaving to prepare for the mission, everyone that wasn't staying behind scattered to get ready. Weiss went to get some Dust from the reserves left behind when Atlas occupied the facility while Blake decided to try a cup of tea from Sayoko after Weiss said it was better than what's available in Vale. Ruby however went after Lelouch to talk to the person they were meant to be rescuing.

"I think this is the first or second time we actually have had the chance to talk." Ruby said as she approached the Prince.

"I think you aren't wrong there. While I am not certain everyone here will survive, I am glad however that it was you four came here today instead of some other team." Lelouch said earnestly as he watched a map that displayed the HMNS Ladon moving between Mistral Britannia and Vale.

"Why are you glad that we came instead of say Coco's team?" Ruby asked as she tried to find her home on the map.

"You four managed to beat Schneizel's team during the events of the Vytal Festival aftermath which my ambush didn't even manage to do. Also any other team would probably have died by this point in the mission with Coco's team not being an excpetion in that I wouldn't have been surprised if they would have fallen victim to what my men and women had become." Lelouch bluntly told the fifteen year old girl.

"However I am glad to see that she will be safe and alive for another day even if I am not even certain of my survival. If I was to die here today, at least I die knowing that both Coco and Nunally are safe from the danger in this place." _Though there is the threat posed by Julius and Schneizel that needs to be dealt with,_ Lelouch thought as he tried to figure out where exactly Julius was on the map.

"So who is Nunally? I think this is the first time anyone has ever mentioned this person." Ruby asked the prince once he finished talking.

"Nunally is my little sister that I have kept safe from the deadly politics of Britannia after she became blind and wheelchair bound." Lelouch explained before walking away so that he wouldn't have to reveal more of his personal details.

Seeing that Lelouch didn't want to talk anymore, Ruby went over to the weapons storage cabinet and refilled her ammunition for the coming task so she wouldn't run out in case of a fight. _The point of no return has already been crossed and now we have to give it our all just to make sure we can all make it out of here safely. I just hope we can get those supplies for Yang and I can reunite Coco and Lelouch safely._

* * *

 **So there you have it guys, the next chapter of the story. If you were disappointed in the lack of Necromorph caused deaths, you don't have to worry since they will be making several characters bite the dust next time I am back with a new chapter. Oh and the reason they haven't been referred to as Necromorphs or something similar is that every alternative name I could come up was so cringeworthily cheesy or stupid that I decided to leave them unnamed instead. I am sorry that it is taking so long for these chapters to come out but work as well as Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne as well as other things often distract me or force me away from the writing. So I apologize for the short chapter but I wanted to end on a slight cliffhanger for you guys to try and predict what exactly will happen during the trip to the lab and reactor as well as how the rescue will end with only Lelouch, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang guaranteed to make it out alive but not without possible injuries. So until the next chapter is released, this is Bylackbre signing out.**


	18. Escape from the Mountain

**So I am back with the next installment for you guys. So if you didn't catch what the Tower of Embers could have been a reference to, then you might get an even bigger hint at the appearance and weapon of the Lord of the Tower of Embers. Well anyway I think I promised a character death this chapter so now would be a good time to start the fight for survival.**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither Code Geass, RWBY nor anything misc. that I have appear that isn't an OC.**

* * *

 **Lelouch's base, Mistral**

"Alright it looks like the coast is clear for now." Ruby said as she looked around the corner and didn't see any of the transformed soldiers. The Engineer followed Ruby into the hallway as Blake double checked that they weren't about to be ambushed from behind.

"Our destination is just ahead. I would suggest we make a run for it but the noise might attract whatever those things are." The Engineer told the others as he pulled out a device that showed a map of the facility. "The lab is secure enough that we can take a short five minute break once we get there."

"I think we are going to go a bit faster than a sprint," Weiss said as they heard a loud banging noise coming for them from down the hallway.

The Engineer grabbed the makeshift weapon he had with him and motioned for the girls to run on ahead. "That doesn't sound like one of them or anything good so hurry up and run."

The party was just about to reach the Lab when a large hand reached around the corner they had just went around. "Get the door, I will hold off whatever the hell that thing is." The Engineer told the Surgeon as he prepared his weapon to fend off the owner of the giant hand.

Blake watched as a large brutish beast came around the corner and roared at the five. Ruby and Blake opened fire with their weapons while the Engineer flipped the safety on the weapon off and pulled the trigger. The monster that looked like a combination of multiple dead bodies combined into one stumbled back a few steps as the Engineer walked forward firing the makeshift flamethrower hoping to either scare the beast away or burn it to death... again.

"I've got the door open, hurry up and get in here." The Surgeon shouted as the door opened and the monster started to walk through the flames towards the Engineer. The Surgeon was the first one through the doorway with Blake following him in shortly afterwards.

Weiss tried to freeze the monster in place but was too slow as the monster punched forward with enough force that caused The Engineer to go flying back a few feet with his weapon sliding away from him. Ruby used her semblance to snatch up the fallen man before the brute smashed him into paste. Weiss sped up Ruby so that she could drag The Engineer fast enough through the door before the monster could reach them.

"This door should hold that thing long enough for me to gather what I need. You three should get some rest while we have the chance." The Surgeon told the huntresses while he walked around the room.

Ruby was checking her ammo supply while Weiss was doing the same with the amount of Dust she had left for the mission. Blake on the other hand was looking around and stopped in front of a computer next to some operating tables. "What in the world were you doing here?" Blake asked The Surgeon and The Engineer who was waking up as she looked over some of the files and found one labeled 'S.K. & M.B.'

"That is a file that you really don't want to open up. We are already regretful of our actions concerning the Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons, that file details the last mad science experiment we did. For your own sake you should walk away and forget you ever saw that file." The Engineer said as he tried to wipe away some of the blood from his bleeding head wound.

Blake ignored the warning and read through the file with her eyes widening in horror as she discovered the real reason that the three specialists were brought into Lelouch's base. "H-How could you do this to them? Are they even aware of what you have done?"

"We made sure that neither of them will ever find out the truth about what happened. Lord Lelouch thought it was a necessary course of action. I am glad that when this place goes up in the FLEIJA explosion, all records of that project will be completely removed from the world." The Surgeon said as he walked towards the computer and turned off the monitor.

"Why would you do this to them though. Feeding them to the Grimm would have been a better fate then what you did to them." Blake said as she had her shaking hand on Gambol Shroud. "Wait what did they do?" Weiss asked as she walked over beside Blake.

"Sir Suzaku Kururugi is actually Mercury who they operated on to make the later look identical to the former. They also manipulated his electrical nerve impulses so that as far as he is concerned, he is Suzaku and was never Mercury. Suzaku on the other hand had his memories wiped before being placed into a metal suit that Lelouch had been using to attack the White Fang and Britannia." Blake explained to Weiss as the heiress realized the exact extent of how far the people they were saving went.

"I am disgusted at the disregard for humanity you guys have. I will help you get guys out of here but don't think I will forgive you for what you did to those two." Weiss told the duo with her sword pressed against the Surgeon's throat.

"That is fair and I think it would be best if you do relax a little while we get everything we need to bring back to the command center." The surgeon said as he pushed Weiss' sword away calmly.

Blake looked over at Weiss and both silently agreed that maybe a short rest wouldn't hurt with how chaotic it had been since they arrived.

* * *

 _It should be just down this hall,_ Unit 024 thought as she pulled the sword given to her by Lelouch out of the thirty or fortieth creature that tried to block her path. _This is the final stretch._

Unit 024 dismembered two more resurrected soldiers before she finally reached the door leading to the factory where she was made. She hesitated to touch the door since this is also the only thing blocking her path to the arena where she first died by Labrys' hands. She heard a loud smash come from the other side of the door after she finally mustered up the courage to place a hand on it.

Unit 024 jumped out of the way as a giant hand smashed through the door but was unfortunately caught in the hand's grip. Unit 024 was helpless to do anything as the owner of the arm flung her through a wall in the factory.

The sword Unit 024 had been using was lost and she started to have a flashback of her final fight when she realized she was flung into the arena where the 5th generation fought to the death. The flashback ended abruptly as the tripod looking monster busted through the wall it through the mechanical girl through a few seconds before.

 _Just stay calm, you held your own against the strongest and smartest of your sisters so this mindless abomination shouldn't be any problem.. right?_ Unit 024 thought hesitantly while looking around for anything she could use as a weapon. Unit 024 saw a broken metal beam and swung it like a club hoping to hit the monster that flung her to her previous execution grounds.

The legless being pulled the beam out of the ressurected weapon's arms before swinging and smashing her through a wall in the arena. Unit 024's auto repair system was working on the minor repairs she needed while she started to recover from the attack. "Here I thought my luck died when Labrys killed me," 024 told herself as her eyes saw the discarded object in the room that let her know she had definitely won the battle.

Had the tripod looking monster been capable of thought then it would probably be wondering why the arm that held the steel beam was suddenly laying on the ground severed from the monster's body. The thing would also be wondering why the girl it had just attacked was behind her when the hole she had made was on the opposite side of him from her.

Standing with a renewed sense of energy and feeling completely invincible was Unit 024 reunited with her original weapon from all that time ago. The monster turned around the face the Anti-Shadow Suppresion weapon but was quickly disarmed as she shot passed it and thrust her sword into the thing's chest while she herself still had her back to the monster. The monster roared as Unit 024 forced her sword upward through the monster's body until it died by having its head sliced in half.

Unit 024 looked over her defeated opponent and the weapon it had reunited her with before hearing a clanking noise and noticing that dozens of transformed soldiers had surrounded her on the outside of the arena prepared to destroy her. "It is time they see how dangerous I am when I am not being handicapped by being away from my weapon."

* * *

"Alright we have everything we need and it sounds quiet out there now." The Surgeon noted as he placed a few more bandages in her bag before walking towards the door.

"Alright we just got done withe what The Engineer needed to do in the reactor room and we didn't see any of those things on the way there and back." Ruby said as the door opened for the huntress and the man she agreed to escort.

Blake and Weiss looked at the two people that worked for Lelouch with nervousness as the trust they had for them lost after the revelation of what they did to the knight and Cinder's subordinate.

Ruby and The Surgeon weren't wrong when they said it was quiet with the monsters not making their presence known. The peace lasted until they heard a few ceiling panels fall in front and directly above them.

Everyone but Blake managed to avoid having a panel hit them yet the cat faunus was pinned to the ground while her teammates and the duo they were protecting were fending off the ambush they walked right into. Ruby and Weiss slashed at their attackers while The Surgeon hid behind The Engineer who had retrieved his makeshift flamethrower to fend off their assailants. Blake was about to be attacked in her trapped state yet her would be attacker collapsed after several rapid pistol shots made it and two other reanimated corpses collapse.

"Get the hell away from my daughter!" Sterling shouted as he quickly reloaded and finished off several more ambushees while casually walking towards Blake. After the last of the monsters were killed, Sterling lifted the metal that trapped his daughter and freed the previously pinned Faunus. "I warned you not to come into the base."

"How did you manage to track us down in this labyrinth?" Blake asked the Knight of the Round who took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"I heard fighting and went towards the noise thinking either I can take out a big threat to you guys or that you would somehow be the source of the noise." Sir Sterling explained to his daughter and her companions. "We made quite a bit of noise so we really should hurry up and get to whatever place you guys have established as a safehouse before they come back for round two."

"The command center is fifteen minutes away but we shouldn't have any trouble getting there now." The Engineer said while wondering why Lelouch hadn't spoken to them through the intercoms during their excursion.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Weiss exclaimed as she noticed the large door leading to the command center was being seiged as they had finally reached the exterior of the command center.

"I need you to clear these monsters out before I can open this door for you." Lelouch told the survivors on the outside while several of his men and Sayoko were getting ready to make a final stand if those things managed to break through.

Ruby watched as Sterling swapped out the pistol magazines in his guns for ones that had an odd hazard symbol on them. "I will create an opening but I will need you guys to make a break for it when I give you the signal," the fifth highest ranking knight in Britannia told the others while taking his overcoat off. Blake's father passed the white jacket to her before stepping out into the middle of the hallway facing the monsters' backs and opened fire.

Sterling always had a few magazines filled with bullets that would work different than normal bullets, in this case he was using a magazine in one pistol that would fire modified depleted sakuradite bullets while the other gun fired bullets that would quickly turn whatever it hit into a frozen statue thanks to cryogenics. The force of the depleted sakuradite bullets would shatter the frozen monsters while still piercing through several more afterwards. Once the ones in front of him were killed, Sterling turned around and started to provide covering fire for his allies while more of the monsters started to rush down a different hallway than the ones the girls and the scientist were in.

Blake watched as her father blasted the limbs off of his would be foes while looking for an opening to make a move to the safety of the command center. Weiss saw a group of the monsters coming down the hallway Unit 024 originally went down and decided to create a wall of ice to buy everyone time.

The explosion made by one of Sterling's grenades cleared a big enough portion of the monsters that Ruby thought her speed would allow her to make a break for it. A few of the transformed soldiers tried to block the young huntress' path but they were knocked to the ground thanks to Blake's father pointing one of his pistols behind him and firing at the creatures he thought would be blocking Ruby's path. Thankfully the doors of the command center opened and closed fast enough to let Ruby in without putting any of the occupants at risk of injury.

Weiss and the Surgeon were the next two to make a break for the door. Weiss used a chain of speed enhancing glyphs while grabbing hold of the scientist to jet past all of Lelouch's former subordinates and into a place where they can quickly slip inside the command center.

"It looks like the Knight of the Round is going to wait for us to make it inside before he himself gets to safety." The Engineer observed while Sterling continued to fight back the innumerable amount of opponents before him while reloading his guns. Blake and the last original member of the group made a break for it while Sterling was in the middle of reloading but Blake stopped dead in her tracks at seeing one of her father's pistols jam and stop working.

Blake watched her father impale the jammed pistol in his fake hand into the head of one of the monsters while driving that arm's elbow into a second one. The mindless monster that had a gun for a nose staggered back for a moment while Sterling used his freed artificial hand to grab hold of one of the monster's bladed apendages while slamming his boot into the thing's chest. The force of the kick and the strength of the prosthetic hand's grip broke the grabbed appendage off while sending the injured being tumbling into the growing mob standing before the knight. Sir Sterling assumed a battle stance ready to buy even more time while pressing a button on the side of his pistol that extended a bayonet from the last functioning pistol the Knight of the Round had.

The Engineer had reached the door when he saw that Blake was frozen watching her father being reduced down to dual wielding a single bayoneted pistol in one hand and makeshift sword in the other. _Now is not the time to get distracted by simple and desperate heroics,_ The Engineer groaned internally as he prepared his flamethrower and walked over to where Blake stood.

Blake was knocked back to her senses when she felt herself being knocked off her feet and falling towards the command center doors by The Engineer who was currently blocking one of the creature's extra limbs with his weapon. "I wouldn't recommend you stay out here where your team will worry about your safety. I will make sure the Knight of Five gets to the door with his life intact."

Blake didn't have time to respond as the door behind her opened and Sayoko bolted out the door and the ninja maid carried the teenage huntress in training into the doors just before a few of the abominations got past Sterling and were rushing for Blake. The Engineer managed to incinerate those that got past yet was quick to realize that he was hopelessly outmatched by the sheer numbers that he was facing alongside the Knight of the Round.

The Engineer and the knight both paused momentarily as they heard a few loud slashes come from the ice wall Weiss created before an increasingly loud drilling noise was starting to be heard on the same side as the source of the slashes. _Don't tell me these no brain beasts have figured out how to use tools,_ The Engineer fearfully thought to himself while seeing Sterling about to be blindsided by an attack from behind him.

Sterling was shocked to see one of the members of the group he was previously escorting knock him back a few feet only to get his shoulder impaled for his effort. Sterling managed to shoot the second appendage that was about to dig its way into the man who saved Sterling yet The Engineer was still screaming in pain and was doomed. The creature dug its mouth into the neck of The Engineer who was too weak to free himself. Weiss covered Ruby's eyes from inside the command center as the monster chewed right through The Engineer's neck to the jugular vein before half a dozen more former humans started to impale and gnaw on the dying man. Unit 024 had just finished using her weapon to drill through Weiss's ice wall in time to see one of the few remaining people who were capable of creating Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapons breathe his last.

A sense of anger filled the mechanical maiden as she sliced and diced her way over to the corpse of one of the men who originally built her. Unit 024 stared at the bloody and dismembered remains of The Engineer with her hand shaking before all thought drained from her body and she mentally reverted to her basic programming. _Royalty is being protected on the other side of that door with a Knight of the Round being on the same side as me. Protect the prince, the Knight of the Round, and the civilians at any cost._ _That is the duty an Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon must fulfill during times of emergency._

Lelouch had never seen Unit 024 fight at her peak condition with her personal weapon outside of archive videos, needless to say she lived up to the reputation she built as one of the most dangerous members of the 5th generation. Unit 024 made short work of any creatures that got in range of her blade with an expression that looked as blank at Aigis' face when training at the firing range.

Blake rushed over to a monitor that showed a video footage of the hallway outside and watched the fight her father and one of Lelouch's bodyguards were involved in. "We need to hurry up and get them inside."

"There are too many of those things still out there. If we keep the door open long enough for them to make a run for it then there is too big of a chance of one of those things making it inside." Sayoko explained to Blake while making sure she had enough knifes in case of emergency. "Once we think enough of them have been cleared out then we will send reinforcements for Sir Sterling and Unit 024."

Ruby had turned away from the monitor after The Engineer's death and was watching The Surgeon use the medical supplies he picked up to help out Yang as much as the man could. After watching Yang be taken to a seperate room to have surgery done on her, Ruby was a few magazines that would fit Gambol Shroud and tossed them to Blake. "Don't worry if we have to fight through those things to save your dad I will have your back."

It only took Unit 024 a few moments of observing Sir Sterling to figure out his fighting style and how to effectively provide close quarters defense while he fired at the ones out his reach. The duo was able to clear out enough of the transformed that Lelouch was about to give the order of rescuing them when a loud thumping noise that Ruby, Weiss, and Blake easily recognized.

Three brutish beasts who were identical to the thing that attack the huntresses before they entered the labratory were barreling down the hall towards the knight and robot. The smaller changed humans that were unlucky to be in the path of their larger brethren were smashed and knocked to the side. Sterling dodged the initial punch sent his way while Unit 024 barely blocked the punch direct at her with her sword.

"You can't just stand there and do nothing. We need to open this door and help them out." Blake told Lelouch as she grabbed her weapon and started to make her way to the door.

"I'm sorry but there is too much at risk to open those doors. Sterling and Unit 024 can distract them but who is to say the third one doesn't ignore the two fighters and instead comes charging into here and starts to kill everyone. Would you be willing to put the lives of Yang and everyone in here at risk just to try to save Sir Sterling?" Lelouch countered while thinking of a way to save Sterling with the least amount of risk. _I want to save him too since he will be more useful alive than dead but even my hands are tied right now._

Blake was helpless as she watched her father's bullets harmlessly bounce off the monstrosities that continued to assault him and Unit 024. Unit 024 was having a little more luck in that her sword was actually cutting into the skin of her foe but the cuts weren't deep enough to cause any real pain. The trio that the two combatants were facing had a much more successful time in beating the human and android.

The first of the trio managed to land a devastating punch on Sterling that sent the knight flying into the ground several feet back with a broken aura and multiple broken ribs. Unit 024 got distracted by this and was headbutted into a wall as a result. The creature that hadn't managed to hit the knight nor the android joined its brethren in fighting Unit 024.

Sterling managed to get back on his feet but was quickl.y thrown against the wall shattering the bones in his legs. Sterling heard his fake hand being crushed under the brute's grip as the monster started to drag the knight's broken body down the hallway and away from the Command Center. Sterling watched his bullets harmlessly bounce off the skin of his snatcher before setting his sight on Unit 024.

Unit 024 was unable to fight back as the two monsters pummeled her body and started to remove her robotic appendages. She started to emulate crying and screamed for Lelouch to help her when the brutes exposed her core and was about to smash to pieces her equivalent of a heart. _I may have died once before but I don't want it to end like this. It hurts so much and I just wish it would stop. Aigis, Labrys, Lelouch please help I want this nightmare to end please._

"Open the door now and kill those things!" Lelouch ordered as caution went out the window in favor of rescuing one of Aigis' sisters that had served him almost as faithfully as Aigis herself. Blake, Weiss, Sayoko and half a dozen soldiers rushed to the opening door prepared to initiate a rescue.

Sterling immediately had an idea and took aim with the last bullet he had in his pistol. Unit 024 watched in horror as a bullet shot towards her exposed core and started a chain reaction in her body that felt differently than the last time she died. Just as the door was barely opened, Unit 024 exploded with enough force and heat to kill the two brutes attacking her and knock Sir Sterling unconscious while leaving most of his body covered in burns. Ruby and Blake were already partially out of the command center but were flung back into the room with their clothes being partially burnt thanks to the flames created by Unit 024's explosion.

Weiss was falling into unconsciousness from the impact but before everything faded to black she watched as the monsters that survived the explosion scurried away leaving the hallway full of corpses empty of anything capable of movement.

* * *

"Alright Ice Queen you need to wake up now. Lelouch said all the monitors are showing our path to the exit looks to be safe for now." A familiar voice told Weiss who was then violently shook awake. Yang looked like she was in a horrible condition but here she stood before Ruby looking to be ready for a fight.

"I thought you were too injured to fight?" Weiss thought aloud upon seeing her friend standing before her with Ember Celica equipped and ready for payback.

"I am not called The Surgeon for nothing. I know a few tricks that can get any soldier ready for combat so long as they still have all their arms and legs." The Surgeon said from the doorway with an assault rifle in his hands as Weiss started to look around the Command Center.

Ruby and Lelouch were both pouring over a map of the mountain base plotting the course everyone would take to get to safety outside of the facility. Blake on the other hand was sitting in a chair with Sterling's overcoat draped over her shoulders and The Psychologist trying to talk with the cat faunus.

Weiss immediately had a flashback of Sterling's presumed death and felt sorry for Blake as she watched her own father be beaten and taken by the very things that almost killed her partner and herself. _I don't know what I would do if something like that happened to Dad or Winter but I know that Blake is strong and will be able to make it._

 _"_ I am about to start the self destruct sequence which will be the signal to run for the outside. I have turned off all the lights except for the ones along the route we will take. Not everyone is going to make it but each of you are going to have to try and make sure as many people as possible survive." Lelouch told the occupants of the room who all finished their preparations to leave the hellhole that Lelouch's fortress had become.

* * *

By the time that Lelouch, the slowest of the survivors, had reached the outside, nothing had went according to plan like he thought it would.

Almost all of his men besides Sayoko, The Psychologist, The Surgeon, his XO, and three other officers had perished in ambushes leaving the total number of survivors to be twelve out of nearly nine hundred. An unseen sniper, that Lelouch suspected was sent by Julius but was really one of Sterling's men who panicked, had shot at Ruby but thankfully missed.

Blake, Weiss, Sayoko and the four remaining soldiers were busy hold off any of the monsters that followed them outside to rush over to Ruby though Yang did manage to see where the sniper fired from. In a fit of rage that Ruby had never seen before, Yang fired multiple rounds above the sniper and buried the subordinates of the fallen knight in an avalance that attracted attention that nobody realized they drew.

Everyone was too distracted by the monsters to hear three Britannian VTOLs fly towards the group and start to land as the last of the creatures that were currently outside died for good.

"Well its nice to see you girls managed to get my best friend out in one piece." Julius Kingsley said as he and twenty or so soldiers filed out of the aircraft into a position that resembled a firing squad.

"Your weapon failed to kill me Julius and I don't plan on surrendering to you." Lelouch said as the one eyed tactician slowly walked towards the rouge prince.

"Well I do expect you to come willingly since Nunally is wondering when you will be joining her in Pendragon. We both know that it isn't in Nunally best interest healthwise to keep her or me waiting." Julius said as he tossed a scroll with a picture pulled up of Nunally sitting in one of the royal bedrooms in the Pendragon Palace while holding a newspaper with today's date on it.

"Now either you come willingly or I kill everyone present and then shoot you before forcing you to come with me to the Ladon." Julius said as his guards readied their rifles to gun down everyone besides Lelouch.

"What is going to stop us from trying to stop you from stopping our rescue of Lelouch who was trying to stop you." Ruby said in a way that drew a couple of odd looks at Ruby's weird way of asking how Julius was going to stop team RWBY.

"Well I had a nice chat with your uncle Miss Rose and while I would like to talk with him again on another day in the future, I wouldn't be above shooting him in the head if you tried to stop me. So what will it be: you give me Lelouch and I give you your uncle or I force Lelouch to come with me after killing every survivor of that forsaken base?" Julius asked as one of his men dragged a bloody and severely injuried Qrow before his boss.

"So long as you promise not to hurt Nunally then I will go through with the exchange and come with you willingly." Lelouch said after contemplating his options and cursing himself for not having a plan to counter Julius at the moment.

"Well that settles it then and thank you for being cooperative Lelouch." Julius said as two of his soldier grabbed each of Lelouch's arms and dragged him towards one of the aircraft. Once the aircraft Lelouch was on started to depart from the area, Julius turned around to face the people who rescued Lelouch only to fail at the last moment. "I would order your execution but I see a group of my weapon's victims who would be more than willing of doing the job for my men."

Yang and Ruby turned around to see the approaching horde while missing the sight of Julius and his subordinates start to make their way to their airships. "On second thought maybe there are too many of you to start off with," Julius told the others as he fired at the group and managed to kill the Psychologist, the XO, and two of the remaining soldiers.

Blake wanted to attack the man responsible for the creation of the weapon that took her father from her but was distracted by a slasher that she quickly dismembered only to see it start to regrow the limbs that had been severed, including its head. _None of them had been able to regrow parts so why is this one suddenly regenerating?_ Blake thought before screaming at the sight of the creature's face.

Blake suddenly felt her chest be slashed as the monstrous form her father's corpse had taken continued to attack the white overcoat wearing girl. _THIS CAN'T BE REAL!_ _THIS CAN'T BE REAL!_ _THIS CAN'T BE REAL!_ _THIS CAN'T BE REAL,_ was all that Blake was able to think as she instinctively tried to survive against the regenerating monster that her father's dead body had become.

The roars of the monsters were too loud for the survivors to hear the sound of a different VTOL come towards them. Blake heard a not so loud thud of someone jumping down into the snow followed by a much louder crunch as the regenerator knocked the faunus to the ground and was about to impale the scared girl in the heart. Blake saw a flash of metal as the bladed limbs that had grown out of the monster was suddenly severed and a fashionable boot took a step next to Blake's head.

"I don't know what you became Samuel but I will not allow you to hurt our daughter no matter how much I don't want to claim this idiotic girl as my own flesh and blood." Pishyakan warned what used to be her former lover as her bladed whip reassembled itself into sword that was used to slash off one of Sterling's arms. Pishyakan raised her sword and started to slash while occasionally transforming the weapon into a whip and back again.

Yang watched at the speed and grace with which Pishyakan easily fought the monster back without even breaking a sweat. Yang then saw the six and a half foot tall man wearing fire dust infused black armor walk towards the regrowing monster and punch it away several feet.

"You get your daughter back to the airship, I will handle what this once great knight became." The armored man said as he pulled out a sword that looked to be made of equal part dust, sakuradite, and the metal hunter weapons are made out of. Two regular monsters, that had just killed the last of Lelouch's soldiers, tried to rush the Count of the Tower of Embers but he just swung his impossibly large blade and sliced the two in half. As the Count approached the regenerating fallen knight he swung his sword to his side which activated the dust in the large slab of metal that then suddenly coated the weapon in fire.

Yang and Ruby were so distracted by the and was caught off guard when a few monsters managed to get the drop on them. Weiss came to her teammates rescue but was too late to prevent any injuries. Yang's wounds had reopened and Ruby looked like she was bleeding thanks to a few deep slashes that got her. The Surgeon was quick to join Weiss' side as the two carried to the downed sisters to the ship Pishyakan had arrived in.

The Count used his sword as a shield to block Sterling's blades before swinging and cauterizing the former location of the two extra appendages. Sterling was then decapitated before his still active body was thrown several yards away. "I always respected you Sterling but this is not the man I respected and Minerva once had a child with." The Count calmly said as he simultaneously smashed Sterling's severed head with his metal boot and plunged his sword into the ground in front of what was left of Sterling's regrowing body.

Blake saw what was left of her father's transformed body become engulfed in a pillar or red and black fire before the thing that once protected her was reduced to a pile of ashes that wasn't regrowing. The Surgeon then helped carry Qrow aboard the ship before looking down at his watch to see how long until the self destruct sequence would finish.

"The FLEIJA Reactor will be self destructing in forty five seconds, we need to get out of here now!" The Surgeon said as Pishyakan and the man who brought her to her daughter rushed to get aboard the ship before the explosion.

The shockwave from the explosion knocked Ruby out as the survivors managed to escape the nightmare that Lelouch's secret base had become. The last of the monsters were vaporized along with Julius' weapon thus making sure that nothing from inside could ever threaten the world again.

Blake looked outside the aircraft after the turbulence ended and could see stars in the sky while feeling drowsy. _Twinkle twinkle little star,_ was the last thought Blake had before going to sleep thanks to the exhausting adventure she just survived.

* * *

 **So there you have it folks, the conclusion to the arc centered around necromorphs and Lelouch's mountain base. I will be honest and apologize if you thought this arc was rushed but I wanted to get it done so that we can move closer to the Battle of Pendragon Arc. I promised you that there would be deaths in this chapter and it was a promise I kept. The final kill count for this arc was: Sir Sterling, The Engineer, all of Lelouch's Soldiers, The Psychologist, Unit 024, and any personnel that were unable to evacuate before the explosion. So despite the hell team RWBY went through to rescue Lelouch, they still failed in the end as Julius now has the prince as his prisoner. Needless to say Coco is going to be pissed when she hears about this. Next chapter is mostly going to be centered around team JNPR while team RWBY recovers in the Tower of Embers before the Battle of Pendragon. So yeah we have a chapter focusing team JNPR, a chapter where Julius gets revenge on the actions of Team JNPR and then finally the Battle of Pendragon arc begins with a few CG characters either making a reappearance or being introduced in that arc. So that is the upcoming plans for this story for those of you wondering. Pishyakan's weapon was based off the weapon called the threaded cane from Bloodborne while I tried to base the weapon belong to Pishyakan's escort off the Fume Ultra Greatsword from Dark Souls 2 and 3. Well don't forget to review, favorite, and tell others about this story while waiting for the next chapter to come out. Until next time this is Bylackbre signing out and hoping you have a good day.**


	19. Diving into the Jaws of Ladon

**Hey guys I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long. Without further ado here you all go with the next chapter. I also decided to work overtime on getting this chapter out to commemorate the release of RWBY Volume 4, of which a spoiler for the first episode is included in this chapter. If you haven't watched the first episode of Volume 4 then I highly recommend you watch it on RoosterTeeth's website.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or Code Geass**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale**

"Rest assured Headmaster that your students and your hunter are safe here with me." The Count of the Tower of Embers said through the scroll call while Ozpin was sitting at his desk. "Miss Belladonna is being checked for any medical issues then will be leaving with Marchioness Pishyakan for Sir Sterling's funeral in Pendragon, the other members of Team RWBY will be transported back to Vale as soon as my personal physician deems them fit to leave."

"I am glad that you managed to help get my students to safety but do you know anything about the success of their mission?" Ozpin asked while testing to see how much the noble actually knew about team RWBY's mission.

"Pishyakan has ears everywhere and it was through her sources that both of us were able to piece together everything. You sent Team RWBY to infiltrate the fortress so that the rouge prince could extracted from the effects of what Lelouch's faction took from Kingsley. Kingsley waited until Lelouch was safely out of the compound before ambushing and taking the man hostage. So I would deem the team's mission as a success and a failure in that they got the fool out safely but failed to keep him out of Julius' hands." The nobleman replied to Ozpin.

"One of the survivors reported that Julius said something about taking Prince Lelouch to the HMS Ladon. I would highly recommend you send a second team into Mistral Britannia and try to get them aboard that floating base. If they can intercept Lelouch's transport then you will have a chance to get him out of Julius' grip. If your students are unable to intercept Lelouch then the air traffic control tower should have the destination for Lelouch's transport listed in the flight log." The Count said while Ozpin stood up from his desk and started to walk back and forth while thinking of options.

"What would you do if one of your knights was sent out on a mission and killed?" The headmaster asked the businessman turned noble.

"I would grieve the loss of a good friend then go on the warpath and eliminate whatever killed my comrade. If the killer was bigger than a single person and was one of the people I supply resources to then I would cut off my resources and starve them until they either found someone to replace me or come groveling back to my feet for forgiveness." The Count said after taking a moment to pause and think about what his reaction would be.

"I have already put one team of students at risk of death and if I go with your advice of sending another team to inflitrate the floating fortress than I would be pushing my luck more than I would like. I would be putting these students into a far deadlier trap filled with enemies that can think, improvise, and even take the students hostage. It is always a sad day when I have to tell parents that their child died because I sent them on a mission where death was a high probability." Ozpin somberly said while looking out one of the windows of his office.

"I do not have any children of my own but I do know how it feels to lose someone that was your entire world." The Count said while remembering the time he spent with his bride who used to be the original owner of the tower before her death. "It is a high risk you would be placing students in but I have an idea that would raise the odds of their survival. Archduke Nikos is currently governing all of Mistral Britannia from on the naval vessel which we could use to our advantage. Send in the team his sister belongs to and he will be more than hesitant to issue an order to kill the team, though he might order their arrest which could be a problem."

 _That could work though it would be difficult to convince Glynda of the odds of success and I am unsure if team JNPR would be willing to go on the mission._ "I will be looking into the different options but I agree that our window of opportunity is short. I have things to attend to and I want my students that are in your care back as soon as possible." Ozpin told the businessman who nodded and then ended the scroll call.

* * *

"How can we help you Headmaster Ozpin?" Pyrrha Nikos asked as she opened the door for the leader of Beacon Academy to enter team JNPR's dorm.

"I have a mission for you four to take if you are willing to listen." Ozpin said as he eyed the room the team resided in. All the members of team JNPR nodded in silence as they awaited to hear what Ozpin had to say.

"As you all know, I recently sent Team RWBY on a rescue operation that was a partial success. The man they were to rescue was freed from the danger he was in but was captured before Team RWBY could get him out of harms way. We know of the target's current location your mission was to either retrieve the prisoner or get information concerning where he went if you are too late."

"That sounds easy enough, but why do I have a feeling that there is a detail you haven't told us yet." Jaune said skeptically as he noticed something was off about Ozpin's plan.

"You will be infiltrating the HMS Ladon, one of Britannia's most secure and heavily populated military bases. We have intelligence that say Hector Nikos is stationed on board the vessel which means that security will be even tighter than normal with little room for failure. While dropping you off by bullhead or have you take a boat is out of the question we do have another option for getting you onto the floating base." Ozpin told the students. Ozpin was about to go into details about how the students were to get aboard when Pyrrha cut him off.

"Why are you sending us instead of Team CFVY or other upperclassmen?" Pyrrha asked hesitantly since she was still shook up after her last confrontation with her brother.

"To answer your question Miss Nikos, Miss Adel may be able to use her noble status to protect her team while in britannia, her title and position has no power on the Ladon while your name actually does. We suspect that if Hector realizes that you and your team are on the ship then he might not have you killed but instead let you go free or just have you captured instead."

"So you are having us go on this mission to get the man team RWBY was unable to save while avoiding getting shot at by Britannian soldiers or getting arrested by Pyrrha's brother who would be forced to have us tried by Britannian law that executes anyone trespassing on military grounds." Ren said as he started to asses what they shouldn't do on the mission.

"It would be harder for us to steal cookies from Ruby or Blake's book than it would be for us to get in and out of that boat." Nora said optimistically while sitting on Ren's bed.

"It would be risky but I am in." Jaune said after thinking for a moment and deciding his course of action.

"We are in too. Oh this is going to be so much FFFFFUUUUUUNNNNN!" Nora shouted while raising her hand with Ren's caught in it thus volunteering both of them.

"I guess I have no choice than but to go then," Pyrrha said as the last and most reluctant member of Team JNPR decided to take part in the mission to rescue Lelouch.

"There is a bullhead waiting for you at the west side of the school. There is an airfield in Mistral Britannia that will have a Britannian military aircraft piloted by your bullhead pilot waiting for you." Ozpin told the team as he started to walk out of the room.

"Wait I thought you said it was too dangerous for us to land an bullhead or other aircraft?" Jaune asked the headmaster who closed his eyes and smiled.

"Your pilot will explain how you will get on the ship when you start making the final leg of the trip."

* * *

 **HMS Ladon, Mistral Britannian Waters**

"What are you doing here? Last I checked everything was going according to Lady Salem's plan and I finished your job before you got the ball rolling." Julius Kingsley told the mustached man who was sitting in the chair behind his desk.

"Salem wanted me to personally check up on your little operation here to see what the situation is like outside of what your put in your reports." Doctor Watts said while Julius glared at him with his single eye.

"Things are going just as she predicted with the only stumbling block being the handicap I received during the battle of Beacon and the fact both me and Cinder were failed to acquire the Fall Maiden's power during the battle."

"Ah yes the battle of Beacon, how did things go so against plan that you and Cinder fought against one another instead of you providing backup should she be defeated by someone else?" Watts questioned the one eyed former bishop.

"Prince Schneizel was not caught off guard when Cinder initiated her attack, and that stupid Labrys girl tore through the Grimm and White Fang faster than I planned. So we ended up catching Cinder first and I fought her lest I blow my cover in front of the prime minister. So Cinder's role was a failure as was mine but all is not lost." Julius explained to his fellow conspirator.

"Oh so what is this great backup plan you have set up to recover your original goal?" Watts asked as he looked at the staff kept in the glass cabinet in Julius' office.

"Schneizel had sent Labrys to steal the Fall Maiden from Beacon some time ago and had her taken to a secure facility in Pendragon. I haven't had access to the facility doing research on the maiden's power. Despite this roadblock my original objective involving Britannia is going to provide an opening for us to obtain that power as well as eliminating several Britannian threats that wait for us."

"Hopefully your plan won't be as troubled as what happened with Vale. Also how does invading Mistral and spreading the empire help with destroying it child? " Watts asked Julius who clenched his fist in anger.

"I am not a child, I am an special military advisor assigned by both Emperor Clovis and Prime Minister Schneizel to be the de facto leader of all Britannian military operations in Mistral Britannia. The empire is extremely centralized around the royal family which has been greatly reduced in size since the battle of Beacon. Take out a few major members at almost the same time and Britannia will be thrown into chaos. Mistral will probably try to rebel in the chaos which would weaken both the empire and whatever is left over of Mistral. Our allies in Atlas can manipulate the Atlesians into invading either Mistral Britannia or the Britannian homeland which would further weaken or destroy the empire."

"you leave too much to chance Julius. One wrong miscalculation and everything blows up in your face and take your other eye with it." Watts told the younger man who instinctively adjusted his eyepatch. "Speaking of things blowing up, you were lucky that the weapon you developed with Madame Salem's help didn't kill you in the end when it failed."

"That is where you are wrong Watts, the weapon performed exactly as I wanted it to. Either Prince Lelouch was caught up in the gas which would lead him into turning into a monster, one of the monsters kill him, or he breaks out and I manage to capture him before he gets too far away. So since everything went according to my plan, I don't see how it failed." Julius responded while looking out a window and seeing soldiers march in formation.

"Lelouch wasn't supposed to leave the fortress alive yet your feud with him got the better of you. We are not sure if the silver eyed girl has discovered her power yet and you had the opportunity to kill her yet you didn't."

"I am working on getting all the players together in one place so that I can get rid of them at the same time. I took Lelouch prisoner so that I can use him as bait to attract all of his allies into one place for us to wipe them out in one swift strike. With our foes struck down and the whats left of the royal family crippled, nothing is stopping the empire from collapsing into a collection of clashing feudal citystates rather than a unified empire." Julius said as he continued to watch the streets below his office. "If my trap fails, we will have already set the stage to force the Britannian Emperor into starting another great war. The royals will probably focus the invasion efforts on wherever they think I am hiding so we can use that as a means to turn the empire into our weapon against the other kingdoms."

"Why not just take the throne for yourself and use the resources of the empire to further Madame Salem's grand plan?" Watts questioned the young man who was currently Salem's top operative within Britannia.

"The royal family has held the throne since the inception of the empire and I would never be able to persuade the nobles and military into acknowledging me as the ruler if the royal family was to eliminated. Just like Vacuo rallies around their hunter academy, Britannia rallies around the emperor and royal family to the point they are the linchpin of the entire country. If we take away the linchpin, the brits will be too disorganized to rally behind a single cause which would leave them open to invasions from both humans and the Grimm they thought they eliminated in the homeland."

"Speaking of hunter academies, Salem has made it my job to work towards destroying Haven which you have been forced to protect thanks to that Hector fool." Watts bitterly brought up before stroking his mustache.

"I will admit Hector Nikos and his sister have both been thorns in my side for too long yet even I am unable to do anything about him in my position. I am just waiting for the first opportunity I can get to gladly lend you the Britannian military to level that academy and purge any hunters within the grounds. Nikos was smart to destroy all the evidence of his previous proxy dealing with us and the White Fang so I can't use that against him."

"Well the first slip up he makes should be his last mistake. So long as he is alive and Haven doesn't provoke the military then there is little I can do to complete my mission." Watts said as he rose from Julius' chair. "I am going to return back to the mainland now Kingsley. We all want results and I need you to make an opening for me to be able to complete my goal.

"Oh and make sure you actually show up to Madame Salem's meeting next time she calls all of us together following your scheme in Pendragon." Watts quickly said before leaving his fellow servant of Salem behind.

 _Now I just need a way to eliminate Hector without too much repurcusions,_ Julius thought as he received a message that Lelouch's transport was refueled and ready to travel to Pendragon.

* * *

Most of the people in charge of anti-air operations were away on their dinner break when team JNPR's plane was getting close to the massive naval ship.

"So you want us to do what now?!" Jaune shouted to the pilot who had the aircraft on autopilot.

"You are going to jump out of the plane at an altitude that the automated anti-air turrets won't open fire at us. Once you are within their blind spot where they won't target you, that's when your parachutes will automatically open and you manually land safely on the ground." The pilot of HBAF transport #479 explained for the twelfth time since they left.

"Well this sounds like so much fun!" Nora said in a singsong kinda way before running over to the door eager to perform a modified H.A.L.O. jump.

"Alright you are clear for jumping," the pilot said as her scroll indicated they were in the target area. Nora was the first one out while Ren quickly followed his old friend. Pyrrha gave a reassuring smile to Jaune before she too dove out of the plane.

"Well I guess team JNPR's fearless leader is a little afraid of heights." The pilot joked as Jaune stood trembling in the doorway, his legs refusing to make the leap of faith.

"I am brave but I think it would be better for me to strategize up here instead of risking my luck and ending up flatter than a pancake." Jaune nervously said as his window of opportunity to jump was getting increasingly small.

"Want a piece of advice kid?" The pilot said as she stood behind Jaune and leaned forward.

"Sure what is it?"

"Make sure you don't hit a building on the way down and your red haired friend packed you an extra change of clothes," The pilot whispered before kicking Jaune in the back and making him tumble out of the aircraft. "That never gets old," the pilot laughed before radioing to Ozpin that the team was parachuting in and the extraction team had better be ready.

* * *

"You ever wonder how we got here?" One member of a squad of two Britannian infantrymen asked his squad mate while patrolling.

His squad mate never got the chance to replied as they heard giggling and a girl in pink smashed a hammered in the ground between them while landing with her parachute.

"I have secured a quiet landing spot for you guys to land in," Nora told her teammates through her earpieces while watching two parachutes come towards her silently.

"The landing spot wouldn't happen to be the giant crater where the intersection of a road used to be would it?" Ren rhetorically asked his partner as he started to close in on the spot Nora cleared out.

"Of course silly, I did that so you guys could see it more easily." The energetic ginger said while swinging her hammer at the two infantrymen she landed on who happened to be waking up. The first one went flying in a pink cloud of dust while his partner was smashed into the ground he was just climbing out of.

Ren had to use his weapon to cut himself down after his parachute got caught up on a streetlamp while Pyrrha did a perfect landing before getting her weapon in rifle mode and scouting around making sure the area was truly clear.

"Um guys I think I got caught by some wind and won't be able to reach the spot." Jaune said through the earpiece as it took a moment for the rest of his team to spot his parachute. " I see a tall building and I am going to try and land inside by smashing a window."

"Jaune I want you to find a safe spot to hide and then stay put, Hector probably will have the soldiers stand down and not attack me if I am noticed so I am going to try and get to your spot. Ren and Nora are going to disguise themselves and see if they can track the target's whereabouts." Pyrrha told her leader before using her scroll to pull up a map of the Ladon's exterior.

"Ren and Nora I want you two to listen to me. I need you two to check the map for the prisoner containment facility and see if they are the prince is still being held there. If he isn't then you are to go to the west airfield traffic control tower. Ren you are to use the thumb drive Ozpin got from Haven Academy to download all the flight records. Ozpin's sources said the travel logs for all five towers and linked together and the West airfield should be the easiest to rendouzous at. While Ren is downloading the files, Nora I am going to need you to see about disabling the anti-air defense so we can steal a plane and get out of here." Jaune ordered as he braced for impact against the window.

"Um Nora what are you doing?" Ren asked as it looked like the hyper girl was dowloading something from one of the unconsicous soldier's scroll onto her own scroll.

"Well I wanted to see if he had any good music to listen to while we did this mission but it was nothing but boring books on tape except for one file. Apparently this guy had a book called _The Pudding Lover's Handbook to Piloting Knightmare Frames_ by Earl Lloyd Asplund. I thought it was interesting and decided to listen to it while sneaking around." Nora explained as she put one a single earbud in before following Ren to their first stop.

"Well hopefully we won't have to test out what you learned from the book on tape," Ren told his partner as the two of them stripped the soldiers of their uniforms before changing into them. Once the duo were changed and identical to any other member of the Britannian infantry, the started to make their way to the location Lelouch was supposedly being held at.

* * *

"Alright Jaune you have to think, where would be a good place to hide in the middle of a skyscraper located at the center of a giant floating military base?" Jaune asked himself a few minutes after crash landing in the building.

The leader of team JNPR looked around his surroundings and suddenly remembered something from a video he watched on the internet. There was a company that liked video games and so they decided to test out different aspects of them in videos sometimes. One of Jaune's favorites was the one where they had two guys, one of which sounded similar to him according to Pyrrha, sneak through a building while hiding in a cardboard box. Oddly enough this was a game that Blake was the best at out of all of Team RWBY and JNPR.

So Jaune started to search around until he saw a box big enough for him to crawl under. "Alright I have a foolproof plan that I am going to use to get to the exit," the team leader told Pyrrha through his earpiece before starting to make his way to the hallway.

"Understood, There are a few Knightmare Frames waiting outside the building and I am going to try and find a way around them," Pyrrha reported while surveying the building through the scope of her rifle. _There are four Vincent Ward class knightmare frames, two Sutherland class knightmare frames, two armored personnel carriers, and about twenty to thirty soldiers patrolling the grounds around the building. Front door entry will be impossible and going below the surface would mean navigating the halls that might not even connect to the building. I can't reach the roof but if all else fails then maybe my semblance can help._

"Jaune it looks like I might have found a way to get in. I am going to try and do something incredibly risky. I need you to let me know what floor you are on so I know where to go once I am in position." Pyrrha said as she started to stealthily make her way to where Jaune was trapped.

"Good Luck Pyrrha and I will let you know when I discover what floor I am on." Jaune said as he and his cardboard box slowly started to make their way to an elevator only to stop at the sound of two pairs of boots.

"I am telling you that Princess Cornelia could so take Former Empress Marianne in a knightmare frame battle," The first soldier said as he returned to his post guarding the door in a spot that was three inches from where Jaune and his box had stopped.

"Marianne the Flash would never lose to Cornelia. You could blindfold the former empress and she would still win against Cornelia and Bismarck at the same time." The second soldier adamantly decreed while taking her position on the other side of the hallway.

"I doubt that Marianne would be that talented of a pilot to take on the Witch of Britannia and the Knight of One at the same time while being blinded," the first soldier said while Jaune started to consider his options. _If I come out of cover there is a chance they would shoot at me before I can knock them out. There is also the chance that they might shoot the box the moment they see it move and I really don't want them to mess this box up since I need it to sneak around here._

In the end Jaune's course of action was made for him when he felt his nose start to want to sneeze. It was almost like exclaimation marks appeared above the soldiers heads as soon as they heard the mysterious sneeze. Jaune kept his hand on his weapon as the two soldiers started to slowly look around before setting their sight on the lone cardboard box.

"If you come out now we won't shoot you immediately, though there is still a chance we will shoot." The first soldier told the cardboard box with his rifle ready to fire.

"We know you are hiding in the box. There isn't any point in keeping the act up." The female soldier said as she too put her assault rifle to her shoulder while keeping the weapon aimed at Jaune's hiding spot.

Jaune couldn't thank Monty enough when a loud crashing noise was made around the corner and away from the stairs.

"This is patrol 18c checking out a suspicious noise on the 39th floor. We suspect that there may be an intruder or some animal got released inside the building again," The second soldier reported as both uniformed britanians rushed around the corner to investigate. Jaune abandoned the box and made a dash for the stairs as soon as the guards were out of sight.

"Okay Pyrrha I lost my disguise but I did manage to discover what floor I am on. I am on the 39th floor and I am going to try and sneak my way down."

"I am almost at the building you are in. I am going to be entering somewhere around the 23rd to 25th floor, so meet me on whatever one I enter in okay?" Pyrrha told her team member as the entered the perimeter of the building's ground and started to plot her path past all the guards.

"I will see you there then," Jaune said before looking to see if the stairwell was clear before making his way down fourteen flights.

"I have never tried this before so it had better work," Pyrrha told herself as she started to sneak her way past all the security until she had her back pressed up against the side of the metal building. Once she was sure that there was nobody around her, Pyrrha laid on the ground and pressed her boots against the metal wall her back was just against. _Please let this work,_ Pyrrha thought to herself as she closed her eyes and used her polarity to help her walk up the side of the building.

Pyrrha opened her eyes to see what she had walked up the side of the building to the second floor before falling to the ground out of surprise over her own actions. _I can walk up walls, I can't believe that I can actually walk up metal walls,_ Pyrrha thought from the spot she laid before checking that the coast was cleared and running the wall instead.

Jaune had just reached the 25th floor and was out of breath. He paused for a moment to catch his breath when he heard what sounded like a window being smashed on the floor below him. _I guess that is where Pyrrha is and if I heard it then that means a guard might have also heard it,_ Jaune thought as he rushed down to the 24th floor and started to try and reach Pyrrha before a patrol got to her first.

Pyrrha was leaned up against a wall trying to hide as the door to the room she was in started to open. The huntress in training from Mistral felt exhausted after using her semblance to such a magnitude. So when she finally got to her limit, she broke a window open and started catching her breath while eating an energy bar to regain energy.

The opening of the door made Pyrrha scramble for a hiding spot. Pyrrha slowed her breathing and tried to make herself seem as small as possible to not draw attention to herself despite the broken window in the room. "Pyrrha are you in here? It's me Jaune."

Pyrrha felt a surge of rejuvination at having be found by her leader before any security members discovered her. The huntress jumped out of her hiding spot and wrapped her arms around Jaune's neck out of happiness of them finding each other safely.

"Alright lovebirds take a step away from each other and drop any weapons you might have on you," a voice from the doorway said while also making a click noise with his rifle that was pointed at Pyrrha.

"Alright my name is Jaune Arc and this is Pyrrha Nikos, we surrender and will go peacefully to whatever jailcell you are going to throw us into," Jaune said before a second guard aimed his rifle at Jaune.

"I don't care if you two are members of the royal family, you are trespassing on classified military property with your sentence being death." The second soldier said as his finger moved closer to the trigger of his rifle.

"That sentence will be your judgment," a third unseen voice declared as Pyrrha and Jaune heard a gun fire enough times to kill the two soldiers. "You should count your self lucky that the vending machine on the floor with my office ran out of my favorite snack," Hector said while reloading his weapon and entering the room.

"It was a false alarm on the 24th floor, I kicked something through a window and the guards thought I was an intruder at first. I personally executed them for making such false claims against me and almost putting the entire building under lockdown." Hector Nikos reported over his radio to the security booth on the 7th floor.

Jaune wasted no time after Hector was done with his message to deliever a well deserved uppercut to the taller red haired man. "That is for what you did to Pyrrha last time she saw you."

"I guess I did deserve that but surely it wasn't really needed after I just saved your lives now was it?" Hector asked as he rubbed the spot where Jaune's punch impacted his head. "If anything I deserve to be thanked for saving my dear sister's life."

"You deserve much worse than that punch for almost killing Pyrrha." Jaune argued while Pyrrha stood in shock of the boy she admired actually punching her older brother.

"We can argue what I deserve later but you two should get out of here while you have a chance. An alert has already been put out over the lack of reports from where we kept Prince Lelouch. I suspect that would be the rest of your team Julius's soldiers are trying to track down. I have a car parked on the second floor of the parking garage which is connected to the building on the seventh floor. Here are my keys and get out of here before anyone else catches you here," Hector warned as he turned his weapon into and ax and walked over to the two dead guards.

"Okay we are going to get out of here now but what are you going to do?" Pyrrha said as her brother looked over the two newly deceased humans before she herself started to make her way to an elevator.

"I am going to make sure these two didn't see anything then have a nice talk with security about making sure you guys get out of the building safely," Hector explained as he swung his ax and decapitated the first corpse once Jaune and Pyrrha was out of his sight. "You can never be too safe when dealing with espionage," Hector told himself as he decapitated the second corpse before throwing the ax into the back of a guard who tried to hide and listen to the confrontation instead of actually trying to fight.

"Hopefully the other two members of team JNPR didn't kick a hornets nest that was bigger than they thought." Hector said to himself he retrieved his ax from the back of the man who tried to run away from him.

"Oh yeah I am going to need that change of clothes," Jaune told Pyrrha once they were in the elevator. Pyrrha then turned her back to him as he changed while going down the elevator.

* * *

"I think that was the last of them," Ren said as he looked at the room full of unconscious HMAF officers who ran the western airfield's air traffic control tower.

"You go get that log to figure out where and when Julius moved Lelouch while I play around with the missile defense systems. Oh and I just reached chapter eight in the book!" Nora told her partner as she tried to figure out how the Ladon's air defense system worked.

"Ren are you ready for a firework show?" Nora said after a few minutes of randomly pressing buttons hoping to find the solution she just stumbled upon.

"I guess so," Ren replied as the thumbdrive was copying the information onto it and Ren's scroll as a precaution in case they lost the drive.

Nora pressed a single button which resulted in the entire floating fortress going into a state of emergency. Nora's missiles eliminate the air defense grid as well a few going straight for where the missiles were being stored which resulted in an explosion that shook the entire ship. Nora also went overboard in her job by actually have the last few missiles impact the Ladon's two main reactors forcing all systems except those powered by generators to shut down due to power loss.

"The copy is almost complete we just have to wait a few more moments," Ren said looking at the monitor before Nora tapped him on the shoulder.

"I don't think we have a few more moments Ren, our friend we made earlier is back."

Ren looked up from the monitor and his started to sweat as Shadow Labrys made her to the tower yelling more profanities than was stereotypical of a Britannian sailor. "I have never seen someone so pissed off about being smashed through a metal wall," Nora calmly noted as she got her weapon ready and opened the window up.

"Nora what are you about to do to the angry robot lady you attacked earlier?" Ren asked as Nora took aim with her grenade launcher.

"Sometimes Ren you just gotta dream a little bigger before saying hello to a friend," Nora explained before the front of the grenade launcher lifted up and Nora launched a giant volley of grenades at the lone figure.

Shadow Labrys picked up and armored vehicle and threw it to intercept the falling bombs. Nora had to knock Ren to the ground as soon as the copying was complete since Labrys threw another car straight at where Ren and Nora were.

"Next time we leave the murderous robot girl alone okay?" Ren said as Nora rolled off of him.

"Well I am sorry I thought she was one of the sisters of that girl who saved my life when I was little and inspired me to use a hammer." Nora apologized before jumping up and firing a few more grenades at Shadow Labrys.

Ren used Nora's distraction to slide down a pipe down to the ground out of Labrys sight. Ren waited for an opening before charging at the rampaging android.

"Oh so you finally decide to get your ass kicked instead of running away like a little maggot?" Shadow Labrys asked as Ren dodged multiple swings from the girl's giant ax.

"Well I thought now was as good a time as any to give Nora an distraction," Ren said before ducking and jumping out of the way.

Shadow Labrys was confused at first before she felt a familiar pain in her back and was launched through the air several feet.

As soon as she regained her footing, Shadow Labrys rocketed forward and delivered a punch straight to Nora's abdomen.

"NORA!" Ren shouted as he opened fire on Shadow Labrys and swiped at her a few times in retailiation for what happened to his partner.

"You humans are just so damn slow." Shadow Labrys complained as she grabbed Ren's head and smashed him into the ground. Ren had a strong aura and therefore was able to survive the normally lethal attack with nothing more than an intense headache.

"Now for my favorite part where I get to kill the people who were too weak to stand against me," Shadow Labrys laughed as she raised her giant ax above Ren. The mechanical nightmare was about to kill Ren when she heard a honking noise and noticed Hector's car headed towards her. _Lord Nikos?_ Was all Shadow Labrys could think as the car kept coming and running over and parking on her.

"Next time I am driving," Jaune said after his motion sickness was done going through him.

"Sorry about that," Pyrrha apologized to both Jaune and the ran over Labrys who was about to be Ren's executioner.

"I have the information, Nora took out the defense systems, and now all we need to do is get out of here before Nora's firework show somehow causes a chain reaction in the reactor blowing up the ship," Ren said as he pointed towards the nearest reactor that was still periodically exploding.

Team JNPR had almost reached their escape ship when what sounded like gears started to become increasingly louder. It was only when all four members of team JNPR turned around when the car Pyrrha parked on top of Labrys came flying towards them. Team JNPR barely dodged out of the way before both the car and their means of escape blew up.

"I am going to enjoy tearing you apart limb from limb." Shadow Labrys roared as she charged towards the team.

Jaune was knocked to the ground when he tried to defend against Labrys' ax. Labrys was forced to go on the defensive by using her giant ax as a shield while Ren and Pyrrha fired at the machine.

Nora was quick to close the distance between her and Labrys with the intent on seperating Shadow Labrys' weapon from her. Labrys felt herself be unable to lift her ax and looked to see Nora hold the ax to the ground with her own weapon.

"You really are an annoying pest. Metis shouldn't have saved your life all those years ago." Shadow Labrys told Nora while pulling her fist back to punch the huntress.

"You wish you were a tenth of what she was," Nora countered as she delivered a punch before Labrys got the chance. Labrys stumbled back a few feet before Ren came in and swept the android's feet out from under her.

Jaune tried to come in and plunge his sword into Labrys but the girl rolled out of the way from the sword before punching the team leader away. Pyrrha tried a jumping attack on the fallen girl but missed and Labrys slammed her feet into the girl's stomach in an attempt to push her back.

Nora managed to get a hold of one of Labrys' legs and threw her a few feet away. "I was inspired to learn how to use a hammer from your sister and now it's time for me to really show you how strong I am with it."

Nora was impressively swinging her hammer around her but wasn't ready for Labrys' next attack. The mechanical girl sprinted forward and shot a fist forward thanks to her telescoping arm. Nora went flying while Pyrrha got ready to fight in Nora's place.

Pyrrha managed to use her semblance to block Shadow Labrys' punches but was caught unprepared by the android's knee. The air was knocked out of champion and Pyrrha suddenly felt her throat being crushed under a cold mechanical grip.

"I am going to enjoy seeing the life drain away while you hopelessly hang here in my grip," Shadow Labrys laughed before feeling a sharp pain in left arm. The hold Labrys had on Pyrrha's throat was released as Labrys lost all motor control on her lower left arm thanks to Jaune's sword slash to the joint.

Shadow Labrys stumbled a few feet away looking at her limp left arm before Jaune bashed his shield against the girl multiple times. Labrys headbutted Jaune and managed to jump a few feet away from any of the members of team JNPR. Labrys noticed her weapon laying next to her and picked it up with her still operable hand.

"I can still easily kill you all with one hand," Shadow Labrys said as she stared down Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren. Labrys then swung her ax around just as easily as she did with both of her hands.

"Stand down Labrys. These teenagers are now in my custody and therefor under my protection. I will not hesitate to cut you down if you attack them again," Hector told the Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon while sliding his special gloves on. Pyrrha saw her brother stand between her and the berserk robot who was previously strangling her.

"You can go to hell for all I care Nikos. " Labrys spat as she readied her ax.

"Do take a moment to collect your thoughts before you do anything too rash and stupid," Hector warned as he turned his weapon into an axe and pressed a button that adjusted the blade to where it stood straight up at the end of the handle.

"It looks like tonight is the last one for the Nikos siblings," Labrys laughed as she charged towards Hector Nikos in a blind rage.

"You should have known it is illegal to strike out against a viceroy or someone of similar position." Hector said as he had his gloves generate a massive amount of electromagnetic energy. "You had a zero percent chance of victory against me."

Shadow Labrys felt a level of pain she had never experienced before when Hector's weapon shot out from his hand and severed Labrys' right arm from the shoulder down. Hector walked over to the dismembered girl who was starting to cry and looked down at her. "This is for trying to strangle my sister," Hector told the girl before kicking her in the head.

"The entire base is evacuating since the missiles you launched at the reactors changed their stability to a critical level. I doubt you know how to pilot a flight enabled Knightmare frame but if you did then there are a few over there that you can take advantage of," Hector explained moments before Nora arrived in a flight enabled Gloucester Knightmare Frame.

"So I guess I missed the fight against the crazy robot girl?" Nora asked from inside the mech.

"I am the shadow self of Labrys, I am not crazy!" Shadow Labrys shouted as she rose to her feet and her shadow started to expand.

"Now is the time you should really get out of here," Hector advised as Asterius started to rise from Shadow Labrys' shadow. An armored personnel carrier full of soldiers loyal to Hector arrived and started to provide a distraction while the rest of team JNPR were picked up by Nora who started to fly away to safety.

The moment he saw Pyrrha was a safe distance away, Hector ordered a retreat as the survivors of the fight against Asterius rushed for the armored personnel carrier and made their way to the northern airfield where their transport was waiting for them.

* * *

"Schneizel will be disappointed if we leave his personal bodyguard to perish with the Ladon. Send a ship down to pick up Labrys and take her to Pendragon for repairs," Kingsley ordered after having watched the entire fight between team JNPR and the Anti-Grimm Suppression Weapon.

A few minutes passed and Labrys was stunned and evacuated from the area. Julius then received a call from the officer in charge of the extraction. "The retrieve of Lady Labrys was a success but one of her attackers dropped something during the fight. It looks like a thumbdrive with the Haven Academy Crest on it sir."

"Thank you for being successful, give the thumbdrive to the technicians in Pendragon so that they may be able to discover what the Haven Academy students were trying to achieve by committing treason."

"Yes m'lord," the officer relayed through the call before hanging after saying "all hail Britannia."

 _We have been waiting for a chance to achieve Lady Salem's goal of destroying Haven and here is our chance. I will let the rest of the inner circle know of the opportunity before sending the 47th mechanized infantry battalion to burn down and purge Haven academy. Once Haven is gone then either Atlas or Vale will follow next,_ Julius thought as he planned out the next step in achieving Salem's grand scheme. _If Hector is stupid enough to try and defend the school with his loyalists then maybe I can kill two birds with one stone._

* * *

 **So there you have it ladies and gents, the end of the chapter. So Nora was the little girl that Metis saved all those ago and in this story was the inspiration for her to wield a hammer. What did you guys think of the new episode that you don't need a First Membership just an RT account to watch on the day after the First Members get access? I will be honest and say I enjoyed it though the scene in the opening where we see Blake with what looks like her family caught me off guard since I thought Blake's parents being alive was not predicted, that's if those two actually are her parents. Speaking of the new episode, Doctor Watts is one of the new characters revealed to be part of Salem's inner circle along with Cinder, a man named Hazel and another man named Tyrian. Next chapter we will have Julius' siege on Haven academy which is home to team SSSN and ABRN. So we are getting closer and closer to the events of the preview chapter with each passing installment in this story. So until I release the next chapter of this story to you guys, dont forget to review, favorite, and follow this story. This is Bylackbre signing out and hoping you have a good rest of your day.**


	20. Regretful Conclusion

**So sorry about this guys and I hate to announce this on Christmas of all days but "The Black Prince of Remnant" is officially over as of now. I was hoping the keep this story up and running but I was rapidly running out of ideas for after the Battle of Pendragon Arc. I might come back one day to work a bit more on this story but I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you since there is a little good news to counter this Christmas bad news. I have started a new Code Geass x RWBY crossover by the name of "The Remnants of Britannia" that I am designing to fit in with RWBY canon more than this one has. That new story is my Christmas present to the readers of this story, the fans of Code Geass, and the fans of RWBY. I have decided to keep a few things from this story in the reboot but just to be safe don't expect every major event that transpired in this tale to transfer over to the new story. Since I know a few of you enjoyed this story I will be keeping it on the website for anyone who wants to reread it up to its regretful cancellation. So this is Bylackbre signing out in the story with a Merry Christmas and a suggestion to go pay "The Remnants of Britannia" a visit.**


End file.
